New microscope breaks light microscopy resolution barrier

A new laser-equipped microscope at IU Bloomington's
Light Microscopy Imaging Center makes it possible to examine biological samples with unprecedented detail in three dimensions.


The $1.2 million DeltaVision OMX super-resolution
microscope from Applied Precision (Issaquah, Wash.) was paid for
entirely with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, through a National Institutes of Health program that supports
high-end instrumentation at America's most deserving centers of higher
education.

"It's a fantastic and unique acquisition for our university," said cell
biologist Claire Walczak, the Imaging Center's executive director. "This
super-resolution microscope, one of only 16 in the world and one of
only 8 commercial units, is part of our vision to bring state-of-the-art
technology to IU's life science researchers, to enable them to address
questions that they did not have the ability to ask previously, due to
the lack of appropriate technologies."

Walczak is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the
Medical Sciences Program Bloomington, an arm of the IU School of
Medicine. Walczak also holds an adjunct appointment in the IU
Bloomington Department of Biology and is part of the Biochemistry
Program.
The imager is exceptionally fast in collecting images of a biological
specimen, and this speed enables scientists to gather crucial data. The
device uses laser light of four different colors to illuminate samples,
while four extremely sensitive digital cameras capture images every 10
milliseconds at the imager's speediest setting. The device can produce
as many as 5,000 full-color images per minute for its major task of
producing high-resolution images. Known as a "structured illumination"
microscope, the device will help IU scientists attain a better
understanding of how proteins are distributed inside cells with
unprecedented resolution.

Most high-technology light microscopes reach the limits of resolution
at 250-300 nanometers -- the diameter of a small bacterial cell. The
new OMX microscope IU has acquired can produce clear images down to 100
nanometers in the lateral dimension. Resolution along the z-axis
(perpendicular, or coming out of the page) is somewhat lower but still
tremendously improved relative to previous technologies.
"We'd envisioned this device would be most useful for
microbiologists, cell biologists, and neurobiologists at IU," Walczak
said. "But we expect scientists from many other fields will come up with
creative ways to take advantage of it."

Light Microscopy
Imaging Center (LMIC) Manager Jim Powers is responsible for training IU
researchers -- as well as visitors -- to use the device.
"The Imaging Center is a user-oriented resource," Powers said.
"Scientists rent time on our devices, and receive training to use them,
but after that, we expect they'll be able to work independently."

IU scientists get a reduced rate when using the LMIC's many microscopes,
due to the generous support from OVPR, the College of Arts and
Sciences, Medical Sciences, and Optometry. At present, the OMX is still
in a training mode in which Powers is working closely with Sid Shaw, an
assistant professor of biology and the technical director of the LMIC,
as well as IU research staff to calibrate the device and establish
protocols for future, similar uses. The LMIC staff expects the
instrument to be available to all IU researchers by September.

The arrival of the DeltaVision OMX microscope has spurred Walczak,
Shaw, and Powers to consider LMIC's future needs. Partly because of the
DeltaVision OMX's size, the LMIC is now out of physical space. In
addition, the device produces so much data (4,000 images takes up about
1.5 gigabytes of hard drive space), Walczak and Powers said one of the
center's next priorities is to improve the center's information
technology infrastructure through continued collaboration with IU's
Information Technology Services. Walczak and Powers want to ensure that
the large data sets produced by the OMX imager can be stored rapidly --
as well as protected from power outages and other catastrophes.


"We have some new things to think about, and lots of new things to see," Walczak said.