Leica Microsystems recently introduced a new microscope featuring the 4Pi technology developed by Stefan Hell of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany. The Leica TCS 4Pi microscope, which can be used for live-cell imaging, offers nanoscale resolution rivaling that of electron microscopy.
Unlike a conventional microscope that views a sample from above or below using one objective, the 4Pi microscope, which enables super-resolution microscopy, uses two opposing objectives to view the sample from both sides. The combined light creates a sharp spot that increases resolution in the Z direction.
The TCS 4Pi microscope offers a four- to seven-fold improvement in axial resolution over standard confocal and two-photon microscopy, says Martin Hoppe, vice president of marketing and sales. It "enables you to see things [that] you couldn't see before, and resolve things that you couldn't resolve before," says Hoppe, who cites examples in which the 4Pi resolved individual ...
