Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Imaging Biological Samples with Optical Microscopy

Imaging Biological Samples with Optical Microscopy

Optical microscopy uses optic principles to provide detailed images of samples. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek designed the first compound optical microscope in the 17th century to visualize blood cells, bacteria, and yeast cells. In 1830, Joseph Jackson Lister created an essentially modern light microscope. The 20th century saw the development of microscopes with enhanced magnification and resolution.
In optical microscopy, the specimen to be viewed is placed on a glass slide and clipped on the stage...

Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy

Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy

Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy or TIRF is an advanced microscopic technique used to visualize fluorophores in samples close to a solid surface with a higher refractive index, such as a glass coverslip. TIRF only allows fluorophores in proximity to the solid surface to be excited. When light from a medium with a lower refractive index (such as air) hits the glass coverslip at a critical angle, the light undergoes total internal reflection stead of passing through the glass.

Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy

Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy

Phase-Contrast Microscopes
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...

Super-resolution Fluorescence Microscopy

Super-resolution Fluorescence Microscopy

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (SRFM) provides a better resolution than conventional fluorescence microscopy by reducing the point spread function (PSF). PSF is the light intensity distribution from a point that causes it to appear blurred. Due to PSF, each fluorescing point appears bigger than its actual size, and it is the PSF interference of nearby fluorophores that causes the blurred image. Various approaches to achieving higher resolution through SRFM have recently been developed.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Decontamination of patient bathroom surfaces with 405 nm violet-blue light irradiation in a real-life setting.

The Journal of hospital infection·2024

Same author

Analyzer-free hard x-ray interferometry.

Physics in medicine and biology·2024

Same author

Dual-Layer Detector Cone-Beam CT Angiography for Stroke Assessment: First-in-Human Results (the Next Generation X-ray Imaging System Trial).

AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology·2023

Same author

X-ray Fourier transform holography with beam shaping optical elements.

Optics express·2022

Same author

Intrauterine vertical SARS-CoV-2 infection: a case confirming transplacental transmission followed by divergence of the viral genome.

BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology·2021

Same author

Analgesic effect of intravenous dexamethasone after volar plate surgery for distal radius fracture with brachial plexus block anaesthesia: a prospective, double-blind randomised clinical trial<sup>.</sup>

Anaesthesia·2020

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 17, 2026

Longitudinal Intravital Imaging Through Clear Silicone Windows

Longitudinal Intravital Imaging Through Clear Silicone Windows

Published on: January 5, 2022

High average brightness water window source for short-exposure cryomicroscopy.

D H Martz¹, M Selin, O von Hofsten

¹Biomedical and X-Ray Physics, Department of Applied Physics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology/Albanova, Stockholm, Sweden.

|November 2, 2012

Summary

High-resolution laboratory water window microscopy is now possible with short exposure times using a stable, bright laser plasma source. This breakthrough brings advanced X-ray imaging capabilities out of synchrotrons and into the home laboratory.

More Related Videos

Observation and Analysis of Blinking Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering

Observation and Analysis of Blinking Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering

Published on: January 11, 2018

Cryo-Structured Illumination Microscopic Data Collection from Cryogenically Preserved Cells

Cryo-Structured Illumination Microscopic Data Collection from Cryogenically Preserved Cells

Published on: May 28, 2021

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 17, 2026

Longitudinal Intravital Imaging Through Clear Silicone Windows

Longitudinal Intravital Imaging Through Clear Silicone Windows

Published on: January 5, 2022

Observation and Analysis of Blinking Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering

Observation and Analysis of Blinking Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering

Published on: January 11, 2018

Cryo-Structured Illumination Microscopic Data Collection from Cryogenically Preserved Cells

Cryo-Structured Illumination Microscopic Data Collection from Cryogenically Preserved Cells

Published on: May 28, 2021

Area of Science:

Biophysics
X-ray microscopy
Laser plasma physics

Background:

Laboratory water window cryomicroscopy offers image quality comparable to synchrotron-based methods.
Current limitations include prolonged exposure times, hindering broader scientific adoption.
Advancements are needed to make this technique more accessible.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate high-resolution laboratory water window imaging of cryofrozen cells.
To achieve significantly reduced exposure times compared to previous methods.
To establish the feasibility of advanced X-ray microscopy outside of synchrotron facilities.

Main Methods:

Utilized a novel laser plasma source operating at a wavelength of 2.48 nm with a 2 kHz repetition rate.
Employed a liquid nitrogen jet for stable plasma generation.
Achieved high spatial and temporal stability with high average brightness (>1.5×10^12 ph/(s×sr×μm^2×line)).

Main Results:

Successfully performed high-resolution imaging of cryofrozen cells within a 10-second exposure time range.
Demonstrated image quality comparable to synchrotron-based microscopy.
The laser plasma source exhibited high stability and brightness, approaching early synchrotron capabilities.

Conclusions:

The developed laboratory water window X-ray microscopy system significantly reduces exposure times.
This advancement enables biological X-ray microscopy in a home laboratory setting.
The high-brightness, stable laser plasma source opens possibilities for applications previously exclusive to synchrotrons.