Jena, Germany--Carl Zeiss has introduced a hardware/software interface to connect light microscopes with scanning-electron microscopes for correlative microscopy in the life sciences.
Precise overlay
The "Shuttle & Find" interface enables users to recall regions of interest in fixed specimens in an electron microscope that were previously identified by a light microscope, and vice versa. The entire process takes a few seconds. This allows rapid and precise overlay of light- and electron-microscope images, high-resolution magnification of the details, and the merger of functional and structural information.
The key elements of Shuttle & Find for correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) are:
--a transferable specimen holder that enables smooth specimen transfer between the light and electron microscopes (shuttle)
--a software module that controls all functions of light and electron microscopes needed to identify and recall the defined region of interest (find)
Ulrich Simon, president and CEO of Carl Zeiss MicroImaging GmbH says, "After the successful launch of Shuttle & Find for materials analysis, we are taking the next step and providing scientists in life-science disciplines with a productive solution for correlative microscopy. As the world's only provider of both light and electron microscopes in all performance classes, Carl Zeiss is uniquely well suited to bridge the micro and nano worlds."
Applications background
In the life sciences, the relationship between structure and function is increasingly becoming a focal point of interest. Correlative examinations that combine fluorescence-microscope images and scanning-electron-microscope images of one and the same region open up new and fascinating possibilities. One of the scientific partners in the development of the interface is Roger Wepf, director of the EMEZ Electron Microscope Center at the ETH (Zurich, Switzerland). "Very helpful indeed," says Wepf. "Shuttle & Find eliminates the time-consuming search for identical regions in the light and electron microscopes. Correlative microscopy now really works even if there are still some issues regarding specimen preparation."
Shuttle & Find connects all light microscopes from Carl Zeiss that can be equipped with a motorized stage (SteREO Discovery, Axio Scope, Axio Imager, Axio Examiner and also the Axio Observer inverted microscope) with all Zeiss scanning electron microscopes of the types Evo, Sigma, Supra, Ultra, and Merlin as well as the CrossBeam (FIB-SEM) system Auriga.
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John Wallace | Senior Technical Editor (1998-2022)
John Wallace was with Laser Focus World for nearly 25 years, retiring in late June 2022. He obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Rutgers University and a master's in optical engineering at the University of Rochester. Before becoming an editor, John worked as an engineer at RCA, Exxon, Eastman Kodak, and GCA Corporation.