Researchers at Purdue University have designed a microscope, based on phase-contrast microscopy, that allows scientists to view nanoscale subjects that were too translucent for conventional microscopes. Their publication can be viewed in Optics Express.
"One of the problems with using the available microscopes or optical devices is that they require a point of reference for the scattered light since the object being viewed is too optically transparent to scatter the light itself," said Garth Simpson, research lead and professor at Purdue’s College of Science. "We created a unique kind of microscope that stacks the reference object and the one being examined on top of each other with our device, instead of the conventional approach of having them side by side."
Future applications of their microscope could lead to better drug efficacy studies and other types of biological imaging.