Fraunhofer Center for Microelectronic and Optical Systems for BiomedicineSelective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) is a fluorescence microscopy method. Only a thin layer is illuminated in the sample (usually only a few micrometers). Compared to other fluorescence microscopy methods, such as confocal microscopy, the light sheet microscope achieves significantly reduced phototoxicity and reduction in the fading of optical markers, so that biological processes can be observed over a long period of time. In addition to the necessary electronic and optical developments, work is also being done on optimized assays and image analysis routines.
Experimental setup of a light sheet microscope
Test setup light sheet microscopy
Selective plane illumination microscopy
Light sheet microscopy at Fraunhofer MEOS
Since 2021, the light sheet microscope and corresponding services have been available to customers and partners in addition to the in-house working groups.
Application areas
The particularly sample-friendly 3D fluorescence microscopy platform is suitable, among other things, for observing and analyzing the growth of organoids, the examination of model organisms or the fine tissue architecture of organotypical cultures as a long-term process based on 3D images.