Volume 26 Issue 1 (January 2012)

Uros Krzic, Timothy Saunders, Sebastian Streichan, and Lars Hufnagel
Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
A major challenge at the interface between cell biology and developmental biology is to connect the dynamics of cellular processes with large-scale morphological changes at the organism level. Selective-plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) has recently attracted a lot of attention, in particular for whole animal imaging. Here we show that the modern CMOS technology based cameras can yield unprecedented imaging speeds in combination with light-sheet illumination. Using a light-sheet based microscope that consisted of two illumination and one detection arms, we demonstrate the high performance of the sCMOS camera by imaging cell membranes in the early embryo of Drosophila melanogaster.

Eric M. Darling and Hetal V. Desai
Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Atomic force microscopy can be used to colocalize mechanical properties and topographical features through property mapping techniques. However, standard approaches such as force mapping can be limited by long testing times and low spatial resolution. Force scanning is a straight-forward methodology applicable to a wide range of materials and testing environments, requiring no special modification to standard AFMs. Biologically relevant demonstrations are presented for high-resolution modulus mapping of individual cells, cell-cell interfaces, and articular cartilage tissue.

Yashvinder Sabharwal
Solexis Advisors LLC, Austin, TX, USA
In this article, the last in a four part series, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) comparisons begun in Part 3 are expanded with examples of existing cameras in low light and medium-to-high light scenarios. The optical system throughput calculations are combined with collection, conversion, and noise specifications from typical cameras available on the market to generate SNR values at different exposure times and under common user scenarios. Direct quantitative comparisons of image quality are made using SNR graphs and experimental images.