The ever-evolving field of microscopy has seen remarkable advances in both hardware and algorithms in recent years, propelling our ability to explore life’s infinite wonders. However, progress towards three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy (3DSIM) has been hampered by challenges arising from the speed and complexity of polarization modulation.
DMD-3DSIM system
The high-speed modulation 3DSIM system, DMD-3DSIM, combines digital display with super-resolution imaging to allow scientists to see cellular structures in greater detail than ever before. As reported in Advanced Photonics Nexus, Professor Peng Xi’s team from Peking University developed this innovative setup around a digital micromirror device (DMD) and an electro-optic modulator (EOM). Addresses the resolution challenge by significantly increasing both lateral (left to right) and axial (top to bottom) resolution, twice the 3D spatial resolution achieved with conventional wide-field imaging techniques. It is reported that this will be achieved.
Biased insight into cell structure
In practice, this means that DMD-3DSIM is able to capture intricate details of subcellular structures such as nuclear pore complexes, microtubules, actin filaments, and mitochondria in animal cells. The application of this system was extended to study the ultrastructure of highly scattering plant cells, such as the cell walls of oleander leaves and the hollow structures of leaves of black algae. In mouse kidney slices, this system also revealed significant polarization effects in actin filaments.
An open gateway to discovery
What makes DMD-3DSIM even more exciting is its commitment to open science. Xi’s team has made all hardware components and control mechanisms openly available on his Github to foster collaboration and encourage the scientific community to build on this technology.
DMD-3DSIM technology not only facilitates important biological discoveries, but also lays the foundation for the next generation of 3DSIM. For applications involving live-cell imaging, advancements in brighter and more photostable dyes, denoising algorithms, and deep learning models based on neural networks have improved the imaging duration, information retrieval, and real-time improvement of 3DSIM images from noisy data. It is expected that recovery will be enhanced. By combining the openness of hardware and software, researchers hope to pave the way for the future of multidimensional imaging.
For more information, read the original Gold Open Access article by Y. Li, R. Cao et al.High-speed automatic polarization synchronized modulation three-dimensional structured illumination microscope,” Advanced photon.nexus 3(1) 016001 (2023), Toi 10.1117/1.APN.3.1.016001.