New super-resolution microscope for deep-tissue imaging at the Single Cell Facility

The new instrument, a Zeiss LSM980-NLO with Airyscan2 detector, combines new super-resolution technologies with deep-tissue multiphoton imaging, enabling the imaging of thick samples, which has so far not been achieved at these high resolutions and speed. The purchase of this microscope was made possible by grants of the Swiss National Science Foundation and ETH given to projects submitted by Daniel Müller, Martin Fussenegger, Timm Schroeder und Barbara Treutlein.

The new Airyscan2 technology allows to scan up to eight parallel pixel lines simultaneously. This approach yields an imaging speed of up to 47 images per second (512x512 pixel). Such fast image acquisition using the 32 detectors of the Airyscan2 is accompanied by a 1.4-fold improvement of resolution compared to regular confocal microscopes resulting in resolutions of 120-140 nm. The long multiphoton wavelength (tunable from 800 to 1300 nm) penetrates tissue better - but had so far a worse lateral resolution in comparison to visible light excitation. The Airyscan2 detector however, can be combined with multiphoton excitation that in turn allows the combination of the beneficial depth penetration of the long wavelength lasers with the diffraction barrier-braking resolution improvement by the Airyscan2. This approach allows multiphoton imaging to reach the resolution of visible light but with much higher depth penetration.