A grant has been awarded to Dr. Anna Swan and collaborators at Boston University to develop spectral self-interference fluorescent microscopy, a new technique capable of optically resolving in the sub-20 nm range. In comparison to confocal fluorescence microscopy, where depth resolution is achieved by focusing at different levels in the sample and the axial resolution is ~1 micron, spectral self-interference will achieve an improvement by a factor of 50 or better axial resolution. The grant provides funds for instrumentation development to create a platform to perform the spectral self-interference microscopy. It will consist of a microscope, spectrometer, laser, associated optics, control, data acquisition and data inversion, as well as specially designed and fabricated micromirrors and positioners to scan the standing wave and control the emission interference. The developed instrument will be a stand-alone, user-friendly system, and will be used to examine subcellular dynamics in a variety of biological systems.
Throughout the history of biological and medical sciences, advances in imaging have lead to revolutionary advances in understanding. The next great revolution in understanding the mechanisms of life will occur when it is possible to observe real-time molecular activity within living organisms. While nanoscale resolution is routinely achieved in a variety of microscopic techniques including scanned probe, electron and ion beam, and single molecule or bead microscopy, none of these techniques can provide three-dimensional intracellular molecular imaging within living organisms. Self-interference fluorescent microscopy can provide the resolution necessary, and this project will develop the instrumentation and analysis to make it a versatile and widely useful tool for sub-cellular functional biology.
