Super Resolution Bio-Imaging with Electon Beam Excitation

Abstract

Optical microscopes are effective tools for cellular function analysis because biological cells can be observed non-destructively and non-invasively in the living state in either water or atmosphere condition. Label-free optical imaging technique such as phase-contrast microscopy has been analyzed many cellular functions, and it is essential technology for bioscience field. However, the diffraction limit of light makes it is difficult to image nanostructures in a label-free living cell, for example the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi body and the localization of proteins. Here we demonstrate the dynamic imaging of a label-free cell with high spatial resolution by using an electron beam Excitation-Assisted optical (EXA) microscope. We observed the dynamic movement of the nucleus and nanoscale granules in living cells with better than 100 nm spatial resolution. Our results contribute to the development of cellular function analysis and open up new bioscience applications.