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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Focussed Ion Beam Milling and Scanning Electron Microscopy of Brain Tissue
Published on: July 6, 2011
High-speed scanning ion conductance microscopy for sub-second topography imaging of live cells
Stefan Simeonov1, Tilman E Schäffer
1Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany. tilman.schaeffer@uni-tuebingen.de.
Abstract:
Scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) is an emerging tool for non-invasive and high-resolution topography imaging of live cells. However, the imaging speed of conventional SICM setups is slow, requiring several seconds or even minutes per image, thereby making it difficult to study cellular dynamics. Here, we describe a high-speed SICM (HS-SICM) setup for topography imaging in the hopping mode with a pixel rate of 11.0 kHz, which is 15 times faster than what was reported before. In combination with a "turn step" procedure for rapid pipette retraction, we image the ultra-fast morphodynamics of live human platelets, A6 cells, and U2OS cells at a rate as fast as 0.6 s per frame. The results show that HS-SICM provides a useful platform for investigating the dynamics of cell morphology on a sub-second timescale.
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