Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy is one of the techniques that make up super-resolution microscopy. It creates super-resolution images by the selective deactivation of fluorophores, minimizing the area of illumination at the focal point, and thus enhancing the achievable resolution for a given system.
The resolution needed to image subcellular architecture and dynamics in light microscopy is hindered by the diffraction limits as described by Ernst Abbe. Simply stated, structures smaller than 200 nanometers are lost in a blur. However, the field of super-resolution microscopy has produced methods to obtain resolution beyond this limit. Leica Microsystems has pioneered this field and offers the Leica TCS SP8 STED 3X for 3D Stimulated Emission Depletion microscopy. STED instantly produces super-resolution images, compatible with the dynamics of living cells, without the need for post-processing.
The NDIIF will have a demo system from Leica here on campus from April 25-28 in suite 007 Galvin. This is an excellent opportunity for our researchers to get their hands on this type of technology! The NDIIF would like to encourage your support to determine what is the next system that we should provide for our campus and external partners. Please contact Sara Cole scole7@nd.edu for more information and to schedule a time slot on this system.