A new form of microscopy, holo-tomographic microscopy, has been developed by splitting a light beam and letting one part pass through the sample while the other is deflected away. When the two parts of light are recombined, differences in their wave forms and the refractive index of the cell’s components can be used to generate an image. By adjusting the sample, multiple images can be combined to generate 3-D pictures of the cell and its organelles.
The combining image analysis with a 3-D microscopy technique will allow scientists to investigate new cell biology phenomena. The technique is accomplished without dyes and very low levels of light. This helps ensure that the sensitive biological structures being observed are preserved during imaging acquisition.
Lead investigator Mathieu Frechin of Nanolive said, “The ability to not only observe, but to measure dynamics of undisturbed living cells, through the application of quantification techniques to holo-tomographic microscopy, is likely to lead to discovery of fundamentally new cell behaviors, and new understanding of previously studied phenomena as well".
Their study was published December 19th in the journal PLOS Biology.