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Image Scanning Microscopy (ISM) [1] successfully overcomes the trade-off between resolution and signal-to-noise ratio of traditional confocal microscopes by considering the spatial distribution of the fluorescence emission light and by reassigning the detected photons accordingly (i.e., pixel-reassignment). A recent implementation [2] upgrades a confocal to an image scanning microscope by substituting the traditional single-element detector with a SPAD array detector. Notably, the SPAD array samples the fluorescence signal from the detection/probing volume both in space (such as cameras) and in time (such as single element detectors, e.g., SPADs), providing potentially significant extra information for a variety of experimental contexts. To fully exploit this advantage, we present a versatile FPGA-based time-resolved microscopy platform that parallelly acquires all the SPAD array signals with a sub-nanosecond temporal resolution, thanks to a Digital Frequency Domain architecture. In the context of stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, we leverage the platform to decrease the STED power needed to achieve a target spatial resolution [3] . In particular, we show how to synergically exploit both the spatial and temporal extra information to implement a new and dedicated photon-reassignment method for STED microscopy. This method not only takes advantage of the pixel-reassignment principle but also compensates for all the different sources of background which typically reduce resolution and imaging quality in STED microscopy, i.e., incomplete depletion [4] , [5] , direct-excitation from the STED beam and out-of-focus signal. Additionally, the platform allows for fluorescence lifetime imaging and a straightforward pulsed interleaved excitation (PIE) implementation, enabling dual-color STED microscopy ( Fig. 1 ).

Image scanning microscopy is a technique based on confocal microscopy, in which the confocal pinhole is replaced by a detector array, and the resulting image is reconstructed, usually by the process of pixel reassignment. The detector array collects most of the fluorescent light, so the signal-to-noise ratio is much improved compared with confocal microscopy with a small pinhole, while the resolution is improved compared with conventional (wide-field) microscopy. In previous studies, it has usually been assumed that pixels should be reassigned by a constant factor, to a point midway between the illumination and detection spots. Here it is shown that the peak intensity of the effective point spread function (PSF) can be further increased by 4% by a new choice of the pixel reassignment factor. For an array of two Airy units, the peak of the effective PSF is 1.90 times that of a conventional microscope, and the transverse resolution is 1.53 times better. It is confirmed that image scanning microscopy gives optical sectioning strength identical to that of a confocal microscope with a pinhole equal to the size of the detector array. However, it is shown that image scanning microscopy exhibits axial resolution superior to a confocal microscope with a pinhole the same size as the detector array. For a two-Airy-unit array, the axial resolution is 1.34 times better than in a conventional microscope for the standard reassignment factor, and 1.28 times better for the new reassignment factor. The axial resolution of a confocal microscope with a two-Airy-unit pinhole is only 1.04 times better than conventional microscopy. We also examine the signal-to-noise ratio of a point object in a uniform background (called the detectability), and show that it is 1.6 times higher than in a confocal microscope.

Image scanning microscopy is a technique of confocal microscopy in which the confocal pinhole is replaced by a detector array, and the image is reconstructed most straightforwardly by pixel reassignment. In the fluorescence mode, the detector array collects most of the fluorescent light, so the signal-to-noise ratio is much improved compared with confocal microscopy with a small pinhole, while the resolution is improved compared with conventional fluorescence microscopy. Here we consider two cases in which the illumination and detection point spread functions are dissimilar: illumination with a Bessel beam and multiphoton microscopy. It has been shown previously that for Bessel beam illumination in image scanning microscopy with a large array, the imaging performance is degraded. On the other hand, it is also known that the resolution of confocal microscopy is improved by Bessel beam illumination. Here we analyze image scanning microscopy with Bessel beam illumination together with a small array and show that an improvement in transverse resolution (width of the point spread function) by a factor of 1.78 compared with a conventional fluorescence microscope can be obtained. We also examine the behavior of image scanning microscopy in two- or three-photon fluorescence and for two-photon excitation also with Bessel beam illumination. The combination of the optical sectioning effect of image scanning microscopy with multiphoton microscopy reduces background from the sample surface, which can increase penetration depth. For a detector array size of two Airy units, the resolution of two-photon image scanning microscopy is a factor 1.85 better and the peak of the point spread function 2.84 times higher than in nonconfocal two-photon fluorescence. The resolution of three-photon image scanning microscopy is a factor 2.10 better, and the peak of the point spread function is 3.77 times higher than in nonconfocal three-photon fluorescence. The resolution of two-photon image scanning microscopy with Bessel beam illumination is a factor 2.13 better than in standard two-photon fluorescence. Axial resolution and optical sectioning in two-photon or three-photon fluorescence are also improved by using the image scanning modality.

In image scanning microscopy, the pinhole of a confocal microscope is replaced by a detector array. The point spread function for each detector element can be interpreted as the probability density function of the signal, the peak giving the most likely origin. This thus allows a form of maximum likelihood restoration, and compensation for aberrations, with similarities to adaptive optics. As an example of an aberration, we investigate theoretically and experimentally illumination with a vortex doughnut beam. After reassignment and summation over the detector array, the point spread function is compact, and the resolution and signal level higher than in a conventional microscope.

Image scanning microscopy (ISM) can improve the effective spatial resolution of confocal microscopy to its theoretical limit. However, current implementations are not robust or versatile, and are incompatible with fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM). We describe an implementation of ISM based on a single-photon detector array that enables super-resolution FLIM and improves multicolor, live-cell and in-depth imaging, thereby paving the way for a massive transition from confocal microscopy to ISM. A single-photon detector array enables robust and versatile image scanning microscopy (ISM) on any confocal microscope. This implementation makes super-resolution FLIM possible and eases a transition from confocal microscopy to ISM.

Image scanning microscopy (ISM) improves the spatial resolution of conventional confocal laser-scanning microscopy (CLSM), but current implementations reduce versatility and restrict its combination with fluorescence spectroscopy techniques, such as fluorescence lifetime. Here, we describe a natural design of ISM based on a fast single-photon detector array, which allows straightforward upgrade of an existing confocal microscope, without compromising any of its functionalities. In contrast to all-optical ISM implementations, our approach provides access to the raw scanned images, opening the way to adaptive reconstruction methods, capable of considering different imaging conditions and distortions. We demonstrate its utility in the context of fluorescence lifetime, deep, multicolor and live-cell imaging. This implementation will pave the way for a transparent and massive transition from conventional CLSM to ISM.confocal microscopy | time-resolved spectroscopy | image scanning microscopy | single-photon detector array

Development of fluorescent and electron dense markers is essential for the implementation of correlative light and electron microscopy, as dual-contrast landmarks are required to match the details in the multimodal images. Here, a novel method for correlative microscopy that utilizes fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) as dual-contrast probes is reported. It is demonstrated how the FNDs can be used as dual-contrast labels-and together with automatic image registration tool SuperTomo, for precise image correlation-in high-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED)/confocal and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) correlative microscopy experiments. It is shown how FNDs can be employed in experiments with both live and fixed cells as well as simple test samples. The fluorescence imaging can be performed either before TEM imaging or after, as the robust FNDs survive the TEM sample preparation and can be imaged with STED and other fluorescence microscopes directly on the TEM grids.

In stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, the lateral resolution is in the range of tens of nanometers depending on the sample and the instrument. The axial resolution, however, is in standard systems limited by diffraction to about 500 nm. We present an approach to three-dimensional diffraction-unlimited resolution by observing the sample at two optical angles. The system is realized by using an atomic force microscope (AFM) chip as a microreflector to deflect the STED beams near the region-of-interest (ROI), thus allowing observations at an angle ∠. Consequently, the superior lateral resolution can be utilized to resolve details in the axial direction of the main optical axis of the microscope. Here, fluorescent nanoparticles 90 nm apart and biological structures 80 nm apart along axial direction were distinguished by utilizing an off-the-shelf, commercial STED microscope, coupled with an AFM and an AFM chip micro-reflector.

Photo-Acoustic Microscopy (PAM) has raised high interest in in-vivo imaging due to its ability to preserve the near-diffraction limited spatial resolution of optical microscopes, whilst extending the penetration depth to the mm-range. Another advantage of PAM is that it is a label-free technique – any substance that absorbs PAM excitation laser light can be viewed. However, not all sample structures desired to be observed absorb sufficiently to provide contrast for imaging. This work describes a novel imaging method that makes it possible to visualize optically transparent samples that lack intrinsic photo-acoustic contrast, without the addition of contrast agents. A thin, strongly light absorbing layer next to sample is used to generate a strong ultrasonic signal. This signal, when recorded from opposite side, contains ultrasonic transmission information of the sample and thus the method can be used to obtain an ultrasound transmission image on any PAM.

Automated analysis of microscope images is necessitated by the increased need for high-resolution follow up of events in time. Manually finding the right images to be analyzed, or eliminated from data analysis are common day-to-day problems in microscopy research today, and the constantly growing size of image datasets does not help the matter. We propose a simple method and a software tool for sorting images within a dataset, according to their relative quality. We demonstrate the applicability of our method in finding good quality images in a STED microscope sample preparation optimization image dataset. The results are validated by comparisons to subjective opinion scores, as well as five state-of-the-art blind image quality assessment methods. We also show how our method can be applied to eliminate useless out-of-focus images in a High-Content-Screening experiment. We further evaluate the ability of our image quality ranking method to detect out-of-focus images, by extensive simulations, and by comparing its performance against previously published, well-established microscopy autofocus metrics.

Multi-modal correlative microscopy allows combining the strengths of several imaging techniques to provide unique contrast. However it is not always straightforward to setup instruments for such customized experiments, as most microscope manufacturers use their own proprietary software, with limited or no capability to interface with other instruments - this makes correlation of the multi-modal data extremely challenging. We introduce a new software tool for simultaneous use of a STimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscope with an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). In our experiments, a Leica TCS STED commercial super-resolution microscope, together with an Agilent 5500ilm AFM microscope was used. With our software, it is possible to synchronize the data acquisition between the STED and AFM instruments, as well as to perform automatic registration of the AFM images with the super-resolution STED images. The software was realized in LabVIEW; the registration part was also implemented as an ImageJ script. The synchronization was realized by controlling simple trigger signals, also available in the commercial STED microscope, with a low-cost National Instruments USB-6501 digital I/O card. The registration was based on detecting the positions of the AFM tip inside the STED fieldof-view, which were then used as registration landmarks. The registration should work on any STED and tip-scanning AFM microscope combination, at nanometer-scale precision. Our STED-AFM correlation method has been tested with a variety of nanoparticle and fixed cell samples. The software will be released under BSD open-source license.

Precise knowledge of the effective spatial resolution in a stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy experiment is essential for reliable interpretation of the imaging results. STED microscopy theoretically provides molecular resolution, but practically different factors limit its resolution. Because these factors are related to both the sample and the system, a reliable estimation of the resolution is not straightforward. Here we show a method based on the Fourier ring correlation (FRC), which estimates an absolute resolution value directly from any STED and, more in general, point-scanning microscopy image. The FRC-based resolution metric shows terrific sensitivity to the image signal-to-noise ratio, as well as to all sample and system dependent factors. We validated the method both on commercial and on custom-made microscopes. Since the FRC-based metric can be computed in real time, without any prior information of the system/sample, it can become a fundamental tool for (i) microscopy users to optimize the experimental conditions and (ii) microscopy specialists to optimize the system conditions.