The central innovation behind SPIFFI lies in its use of polarimetry, the measurement and manipulation of the polarization state of light, as a vehicle for encoding information that would normally require repeated measurements to capture. In conventional fluorescence imaging, the polarization of emitted or illuminated light is often treated as a nuisance parameter to be minimized or ignored. SPIFFI instead treats polarization as a rich information channel. By carefully structuring the polarization of light interacting with the sample, and by decoding the resulting polarization-dependent patterns, the technique extracts sub-diffraction-scale spatial information from what would otherwise be a single, ordinary-looking frame of data.

To understand why this matters, it helps to recall how super-resolution microscopy typically works. Techniques such as structured illumination microscopy overlay known patterns onto the sample, and the interaction between the illumination pattern and fine sample structure shifts normally invisible high-frequency information into the observable range. Capturing that information, however, usually demands multiple raw images taken with the pattern shifted and reoriented, phase stepping through several positions before a reconstruction algorithm can assemble a super-resolved result. Each additional frame adds exposure time, phototoxicity, and sensitivity to sample motion. In a living cell that is crawling, dividing, or trafficking vesicles along microtubules, even a few tens of milliseconds between frames can smear fine structures into unrecognizable streaks.

SPIFFI’s single-shot design sidesteps this problem by ensuring that all the information needed for super-resolution reconstruction is packed into one exposure. Rather than stepping through illumination phases sequentially, the system encodes the necessary spatial and polarization diversity simultaneously, so that a single camera frame contains, in a multiplexed form, the data that earlier approaches gathered across multiple frames. Decoding software then computationally separates the multiplexed channels and reconstructs a super-resolved image, along with additional multidimensional information about the sample. The practical consequence is that researchers can follow fast biological processes with spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit while acquiring images at video rates or faster, limited primarily by camera speed and signal brightness rather than by the imaging protocol itself.

The multidimensional character of the technique is one of its most striking features. Beyond simply sharpening the lateral position of fluorescent structures, SPIFFI’s polarimetric readout carries information about additional dimensions of the light field, which can be exploited to characterize properties of the sample or the fluorescent labels themselves. Fluorescent molecules do not emit light uniformly in all directions; their emission and excitation depend on the orientation of their dipoles, and the polarization of fluorescence therefore encodes molecular orientation information. In many biological contexts, from the tilt of transmembrane proteins to the architecture of cytoskeletal filaments, this orientation information is biologically meaningful. A technique that retrieves it simultaneously with super-resolved spatial position, in real time, opens the door to imaging modalities in which each frame conveys a richer picture of molecular-scale organization than a conventional intensity image ever could.

The implications for live-cell imaging are substantial. Dynamic processes that have been particularly challenging for super-resolution methods include the remodeling of the actin cortex during cell migration, the rapid exchange of proteins at synapses, membrane fusion and fission events, and the motion of molecular motors along cytoskeletal tracks. In each case, the structures involved are small enough to demand super-resolution, yet fast enough that sequential multi-frame acquisition would blur them. Single-shot acquisition removes the temporal bottleneck: because the entire measurement occurs within one exposure, there is no inter-frame delay during which the sample can move, and motion artifacts that plague phase-stepped approaches are eliminated by design rather than corrected after the fact.

Photodamage is a second front on which the single-shot approach promises advantages. Phototoxicity in live-cell fluorescence microscopy scales with the total light dose delivered to the sample, and multi-frame super-resolution techniques necessarily illuminate the specimen repeatedly. By compressing the acquisition into a single exposure, SPIFFI reduces the number of illumination cycles required per reconstructed image, which can lower the cumulative dose and help keep living specimens healthy over longer observation windows. For experiments in which cells must be followed through division, differentiation, or stress responses over many minutes or hours, reducing light exposure is often as important as improving resolution, and imaging frameworks that economize on dose while preserving detail address a genuine unmet need.

Real-time capability also changes the experimental workflow in a more subtle way. When reconstruction requires lengthy offline computation, microscopists typically acquire data first and analyze it later, discovering only after the experiment ends whether the labeling was adequate, the focus was stable, or the biology behaved as expected. An imaging mode that produces super-resolved results in real time allows researchers to adjust conditions on the fly: to re-focus, re-label, or re-design the experiment while the sample is still on the stage. In the longer term, real-time super-resolution also makes live feedback experiments feasible, in which perturbations such as optogenetic activation or drug addition are triggered based on features detected in the super-resolved image itself, closing the loop between observation and intervention at a spatial scale previously reserved for slower, fixed-cell methods.

The technical challenges that SPIFFI had to overcome are nontrivial and illuminate why such a capability has been slow to arrive. Encoding polarization diversity into an optical system while preserving diffraction-limited image quality requires precise wavefront and polarization control, typically with patterned retarders, spatial light modulators, or polarization-sensitive optics arranged so that different polarization channels are spatially multiplexed onto the detector without crosstalk that would corrupt the reconstruction. The decoding algorithms must unmix these channels robustly in the presence of shot noise, background autofluorescence, and the inevitable imperfections of real optical components. Achieving this in a form that runs fast enough for real-time display demands efficient computational implementations, often leveraging modern graphics hardware. That SPIFFI achieves all of this while remaining usable on biological samples reflects years of incremental progress across polarization imaging, computational microscopy, and fluorescent probe chemistry.

For the broader microscopy community, SPIFFI represents part of a larger convergence between optical engineering and computational reconstruction that has come to define the current era of microscopy. The classical divide between what the optics measure and what the software infers has blurred: polarization, phase, spectrum, and incidence angle have all been conscripted as carriers of encoded spatial information, with algorithms doing the work of translation. Within this landscape, the appeal of single-shot designs is a growing recognition that biology cannot be asked to hold still. The techniques that ultimately shape our understanding of living systems will be those that deliver their full power within the timescales on which life unfolds, and by bringing super-resolution and multidimensional contrast into a single real-time exposure, SPIFFI marks a meaningful step in that direction. If the approach proves widely adoptable on standard microscopes, it could bring real-time, multidimensional super-resolution imaging out of specialized laboratories and into everyday use across cell biology, neuroscience, and biophysics.

Subject of Research: Single-shot polarimetric super-resolution fluorescence microscopy for live-cell imaging

Article Title: SPIFFI enables single-shot super-resolution and multidimensional imaging

Article References: Guo, W., Feletti, L., & Radenovic, A. (2026). SPIFFI enables single-shot super-resolution and multidimensional imaging. Nature Methods. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-026-03196-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1038/s41592-026-03196-6

Keywords: super-resolution microscopy, fluorescence imaging, polarimetry, live-cell imaging, structured illumination, single-shot imaging, real-time imaging, phototoxicity, computational microscopy, cell biology, SPIFFI, enables

The research hinged on a technical feat: watching individual nucleosomes, the fundamental repeating units of chromatin, move in real time inside living cells. The team combined single-nucleosome imaging and tracking with super-resolution three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy, or 3D-SIM, which pushes past the classical diffraction limit of light microscopy to resolve chromatin organization at a scale of tens of nanometers. Together these methods allowed the investigators to measure both the local motion of nucleosomes and the three-dimensional morphology of condensed euchromatic domains in the same living cells, before and after acute manipulation of cohesin.

Euchromatin is not a homogeneous soup of DNA and proteins. It is partitioned into domains with distinct physical properties, some of which behave like condensed droplets enriched in transcriptionally active machinery. A central question in the field has been whether these domains are held apart by active mechanisms or whether they self-organize through the physics of phase separation, with weak, multivalent interactions driving chromatin to demix into distinct liquid-like compartments. The new findings point to a decisive role for cohesin in maintaining this compartmentalization, adding a genetic and biochemical handle to what has often been framed as a purely biophysical problem.

The single-nucleosome tracking experiments provided a dynamic readout of chromatin fluidity. By labeling histones sparsely and following their trajectories frame by frame, the researchers could quantify how freely nucleosomes diffuse within their local chromatin environment. In normal cells, nucleosomes within condensed euchromatic domains showed constrained mobility, consistent with a densely packed and relatively stable chromatin fiber. When the investigators acutely depleted cohesin, the picture changed dramatically: nucleosome mobility increased, indicating that the condensed euchromatic domains had become more fluid, more like a liquid and less like a restrained polymer network.

What makes this result particularly striking is what did not change. Overall chromatin compaction, measured as the average density of chromatin within the euchromatic regions, was essentially unaffected by the loss of cohesin. The domains remained condensed; they did not dissolve or decondense. Instead, their internal fluidity rose, and with it their tendency to coalesce. In other words, cohesin does not maintain the physical state of euchromatin by controlling how tightly it is packed. Its role is spatial rather than material: it keeps condensed domains in their proper places, preventing neighboring territories from merging even while each territory stays as compact as before.

Super-resolution 3D-SIM imaging made this loss of spatial control visible. In cohesin-proficient cells, condensed euchromatic domains appeared as discrete, bounded objects distributed through the nuclear interior. After cohesin removal, the boundaries between adjacent domains blurred, and domains that had previously remained separate were observed to fuse locally, producing larger, mixed territories. The consequence of this mixing is not merely cosmetic. The functional identity of chromatin domains depends on their insulation: enhancers, silencers, and other regulatory elements act over defined genomic distances, and the three-dimensional organization of chromatin helps enforce those limits. When domains mix, regulatory inputs can reach genes that were previously shielded from them.

That functional consequence was confirmed at the level of transcription. The researchers found that cohesin loss compromised transcriptional insulation, allowing the transcriptional programs of neighboring domains to interfere with one another. Genes that had been maintained in distinct regulatory environments began to respond to the wrong controls. This connects the physical observation, domain mixing, to a biological output, misregulated gene expression, and suggests that the barrier function of cohesin is not an incidental byproduct of loop extrusion but a property that cells rely on to keep their regulatory circuits orderly.

Cohesin is already famous for its role in genome architecture through the process of loop extrusion, in which the complex translocates along DNA and enlarges loops until halted by boundary elements such as CTCF. This activity organizes the genome into topologically associating domains, or TADs, and its disruption in diseases known as cohesinopathies causes developmental defects. The new work adds a second, complementary dimension to this picture. Beyond extruding loops between distant genomic sites, cohesin locally constrains condensed euchromatin, and these two functions together may explain why mutations affecting cohesin produce such broad and pleiotropic effects on gene expression during development.

The findings also sharpen the ongoing debate about how chromatin compartments form and are maintained. Models based on phase separation predict that chromatin domains with similar biochemical properties should spontaneously coalesce and repel dissimilar ones, with demixing driven by the intrinsic interactions among nucleosomes, histone tails, and associated factors. If phase separation alone were sufficient to maintain euchromatic domains, removing cohesin should not have caused them to merge; their physical similarity should have kept them together but distinct. The observation that cohesin loss increases fluidity and permits mixing suggests that intrinsic chromatin interactions favor coalescence, and that cohesin actively opposes this tendency, fencing off domains that would otherwise blend. Cohesin, in this view, is the factor that prevents local mixing of condensed euchromatin in the crowded nuclear environment.

Technically, the study demonstrates the power of imaging-based approaches that operate in living cells at single-molecule and super-resolution scales simultaneously. Fixed-cell methods capture snapshots of architecture but cannot distinguish between domains that are statically separate and domains that are dynamically prevented from mixing. Single-nucleosome tracking adds the temporal dimension, revealing that cohesin constrains motion rather than compaction, a distinction invisible to purely structural measurements. The combination of these modalities provides a template for future studies of how other nuclear factors, from architectural proteins to RNA polymerase machinery, shape the physical behavior of chromatin in real time.

The broader implications reach into human disease. Cohesin genes are among the most frequently mutated in cancers, and cohesion-related developmental syndromes such as Cornelia de Lange syndrome arise from haploinsufficiency of cohesin components. If part of the pathology of these conditions stems from the loss of transcriptional insulation, then the specific mechanism identified here, increased fluidity and mixing of condensed euchromatic domains, offers a concrete physical picture of how cohesin mutations dysregulate gene expression. It also suggests that the degree of chromatin fluidity could serve as a measurable cellular phenotype, detectable by live-cell imaging, in cells carrying cohesin mutations or in tumors with disrupted cohesin function.

Looking forward, the study raises questions that will drive the next phase of research. How does cohesin physically constrain the mobility of condensed euchromatin, and is this barrier function mediated by the same extrusion activity that forms loops, or by a distinct, stabilizing interaction with chromatin? How many cohesin complexes are required to fence off a single condensed domain, and where do these barrier-forming complexes reside relative to domain boundaries? And do other nuclear factors cooperate with cohesin in maintaining compartmental identity, or does cohesin act largely alone? Answering these questions will require extending the same live-cell, super-resolution toolkit used in this study, but the central message is already clear: the genome’s active regions are kept separate not by the physics of chromatin alone, but by an active, energy-consuming molecular machine that patrols the boundaries between them.

Subject of Research: Cohesin-mediated spatial insulation of condensed euchromatic domains in living human cells

Article Title: Cohesin prevents local mixing of condensed euchromatic domains in living human cells

Article References: Shimazoe, M. A., Iida, S., Minami, K., Higashi, K., Tamura, S., Kobayashi, Y., Fujishiro, S., Xiong, L., Nakazato, K., Ashwin, S. S., Nishiyama, T., Nagata, Y., Kanemaki, M. T., Kawaguchi, A., Ohkawa, Y., Schermelleh, L., Toyoda, A., Xie, L., Kurokawa, K., … Maeshima, K. (2026). Cohesin prevents local mixing of condensed euchromatic domains in living human cells. Nature Genetics, 58(9), 2335-2349. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-026-02736-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1038/s41588-026-02736-2

Keywords: cohesin, chromatin, euchromatin, single-nucleosome imaging, super-resolution microscopy, 3D-SIM, genome organization, transcriptional insulation, nuclear architecture, phase separation, loop extrusion, epigenetics

Unraveling the complex behaviors of living cells in real time lies at the heart of advances in disease understanding, drug development, and fundamental cell biology. Traditionally, imaging subcellular components with super-resolution precision required multiple frames or scanning routines, often jeopardizing live-cell viability due to phototoxicity and extended observation times. This limitation has long impeded the capacity to track rapid molecular events critical to processes such as mitochondrial fission and fusion, which are deeply implicated in aging, neurodegeneration, and metabolic disorders. The eDL-cSIM approach surmounts these obstacles by harnessing the synergy of structured illumination and cutting-edge artificial intelligence.

Conventional super-resolution fluorescence microscopy techniques have indeed redefined cellular observation by breaching the optical diffraction barrier. However, the bottlenecks remain substantial. Many existing modalities necessitate capturing dozens, if not hundreds, of sequential frames to computationally reconstruct a high-resolution image. Such demands translate into prolonged exposure times, amplified risks of photobleaching fluorescent markers, and motion-induced artifacts, all of which undermine image fidelity and live-cell experimentation. Moreover, reliance on post-acquisition image processing can introduce reconstruction errors, especially under conditions of low photon flux and compromised signal-to-noise ratios (SNR).

The NJUST team’s eDL-cSIM method addresses these challenges head-on by embedding a six-beam interference pattern into a single exposure frame. This approach efficiently encodes multidirectional super-resolution spatial frequencies simultaneously, effectively compressing data acquisition time while significantly reducing photon dosage. Central to this technique is an ensemble neural network architecture that fuses Transformer modules with multi-model integration strategies, enabling precise decoding of intricate illumination patterns. This neural ensemble reconstructs images with a lateral resolution near 100 nanometers from just one shot, a capability that traditionally demanded multiple exposures.

Professor Zuo emphasizes that this innovation is not simply an iterative improvement but represents a paradigm shift. By merging physical optics and artificial intelligence, eDL-cSIM combines the robustness of structured illumination microscopy with the adaptability and interpretive power of deep learning algorithms. This confluence yields superior image reconstruction speed and quality, minimizes phototoxic effects, and is resilient to environmental perturbations that typically challenge live-cell microscopy.

To demonstrate the system’s efficacy, the researchers visualized mitochondrial dynamics—specifically fission and fusion events—within live cells. These mitochondrial behaviors are fundamental to cellular energy homeostasis and apoptosis regulation and have direct implications for diverse pathologies, from diabetes to neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The eDL-cSIM platform enabled detailed visualization of these processes at high frame rates without compromising cell viability, underscoring its potential for dynamic biological investigations that were previously unattainable.

Beyond mitochondrial observations, eDL-cSIM exhibits remarkable generalization capabilities across varied cellular structures and sample types. This versatility is critical for biomedical applications, allowing researchers to study a broad spectrum of organelles and molecular phenomena with equal precision and efficiency. The system’s environment-robust design ensures stability even under fluctuating laboratory conditions, addressing a common impediment faced by sensitive optical imaging setups.

From a technical perspective, the innovation is anchored in a novel optical configuration that simultaneously projects six spatially and angularly distinct illumination beams. This ensemble produces composite interference patterns encoding rich spatial information which, until now, required multiple sequential acquisitions to decode. By integrating this with an ensemble deep learning model that includes Transformer-based attention mechanisms, the method adeptly dissects the complex interference signatures to reconstruct super-resolved images from highly compressed data.

This approach’s implications are broad-reaching. By dramatically reducing the requirement for multiple frames and high photon doses, eDL-cSIM enables prolonged live-cell imaging without inducing phototoxic damage or photobleaching. This gentler microscopy offers unprecedented windows into cellular physiology, making it a potentially indispensable tool in fields ranging from developmental biology and neuroscience to pharmacology and personalized medicine. It paves the way for continuous, high-fidelity observation of cellular processes on timescales and at resolutions previously considered technically and biologically prohibitive.

Furthermore, the development highlights the transformative role of artificial intelligence in modern microscopy. The fusion of physical imaging techniques with advanced computational models is ushering in an era of "intelligent microscopes" capable of optimizing data acquisition and enhancing image reconstruction in real time. This AI-aided microscopy transcends the classical trade-offs between speed, resolution, and photodamage, setting new standards in live-cell imaging.

The implications for drug discovery are equally profound. Fast and accurate imaging of live cells can accelerate phenotypic screening, help elucidate mechanisms of drug action, and support the identification of early cellular responses to therapeutic agents. As cellular dynamics become more accessible through such technologies, researchers can unravel pathological processes with greater clarity, enabling more targeted and efficacious interventions in complex diseases.

In conclusion, eDL-cSIM emerges as a groundbreaking methodology that capitalizes on the integration of structured illumination microscopy and innovative deep learning frameworks to deliver rapid, high-resolution, and minimally invasive imaging. This breakthrough opens new frontiers for observing cellular microenvironments and paves the way for discoveries that may redefine our understanding of health and disease at the microscopic scale. As Professor Zuo and his team continue to refine the technology, the scientific community anticipates broader adoption of intelligent microscopy systems across diverse biomedical research arenas.

Subject of Research: Cells

Article Title: Ensemble deep learning-enabled single-shot composite structured illumination microscopy (eDL-cSIM)

News Publication Date: 7-May-2025

Web References:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s43074-025-00171-w

Image Credits: Jiaming Qian

Keywords: AI-driven microscopy, super-resolution imaging, live-cell imaging, deep learning, structured illumination microscopy, mitochondrial dynamics, phototoxicity reduction, composite interference patterns, Transformer neural networks, biomedical imaging innovation

MINFLUX, a revolutionary fluorescence nanoscopy technique introduced in the past decade, has already shattered conventional barriers by combining fluorescence detection with minimal photon fluxes to localize single molecules with nanometer precision. By illuminating a sample with a donut-shaped excitation light and analyzing the emitted fluorescence photons’ intensity variations, MINFLUX attains localization accuracy far superior to standard microscopy techniques. Still, the exact spatial confinement of the excitation light remains a limiting factor. Herein lies the transformative potential of incorporating high-order vortex beams, which have a complex phase structure and can carry orbital angular momentum.

High-order vortex beams differ fundamentally from the typical Gaussian beams employed in many conventional microscopy setups. They possess a helical wavefront characterized by phase singularities that manifest as dark cores surrounded by bright rings of light. This unique intensity and phase distribution enables enhanced manipulation of excitation light patterns, crucial for improving MINFLUX’s spatial resolution. Addressing the challenges in precisely steering and shaping these vortex beam profiles has allowed Tan and Huang to tailor MINFLUX’s illumination in unprecedented ways.

The new approach effectively uses high-order vortex beams to engineer the fluorescence excitation pattern at the nanoscale, creating more intricate and sharply confined light distributions. By fine-tuning the vortex beam order, the researchers manipulate the size and intensity profile of the donut beam’s central dark spot, achieving sharper intensity gradients. These gradients directly improve the localization accuracy of the fluorescent emitters by enhancing the contrast in the emitted signal with respect to their position. This refined control over the excitation geometry allows MINFLUX to more precisely pinpoint molecular locations even in densely labeled biological environments.

A paramount challenge in deploying high-order vortex beams arises from their sensitivity to optical aberrations and their propensity to distort upon propagation through complex media. Tan and Huang’s work overcomes this by incorporating adaptive optics and advanced beam-shaping techniques, ensuring stable and reproducible beam profiles within the imaging system. Their setup leverages spatial light modulators (SLMs) to dynamically generate and adjust the vortex beam modes in real-time, adapting to sample-induced distortions and maintaining diffraction-limited focusing. This dynamic flexibility enhances the robustness and practical applicability of the enhanced MINFLUX setup.

Furthermore, the integration of high-order vortex beams leads to a substantial reduction in photobleaching and phototoxicity during imaging. Since MINFLUX fundamentally minimizes the number of excitation photons needed for localization, sharpening the spatial excitation with vortex beams further concentrates photon delivery precisely where needed. This spatiotemporal photon economy preserves fluorophore integrity and prolongs sample viability—critical considerations in live-cell imaging and long-term observation of dynamic biological processes.

The implications of this technological leap extend markedly into cellular and molecular biology realms. By resolving fluorophores with sub-nanometer accuracy in complex, densely packed intracellular environments, researchers can now track biomolecular interactions and protein dynamics with unparalleled clarity. Processes such as synaptic vesicle trafficking, receptor clustering on cell membranes, and DNA-protein interactions can be visualized in vivo with spatial detail and temporal fidelity previously thought unattainable through optical microscopy.

Tan and Huang’s concept also paves the way for synergistic combinations with complementary super-resolution techniques like STED and PALM, potentially amalgamating strengths in photon efficiency, resolution, and multiplexing ability. Moreover, the use of vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum opens doors for encoding additional information channels into the excitation light, offering prospects for multi-dimensional imaging schemes that simultaneously probe structural, dynamic, and mechanical properties of nanoscale specimens.

On a fundamental level, this work underscores the profound influence of beam engineering on optical microscopy’s future. While the past decades witnessed incremental improvements by optimizing fluorophores or detection schemes, this study highlights the transformative value of fundamentally redefining how light’s phase and intensity distributions are harnessed. Employing sophisticated vortex beam modes with MINFLUX illustrates a new paradigm in microscope illumination optics, blending quantum optics principles with photonic engineering to transcend classical imaging constraints.

Technically, the setup developed involves an intricate alignment of laser sources, SLMs, and high-numerical-aperture objectives integrated within a feedback-controlled platform to stabilize vortex beam generation. Fluorescence signals are detected by single-photon avalanche diodes with real-time localization algorithms adapted to exploit the sharper spatial excitation profile. Calibration procedures include scanning nanostructured samples to meticulously characterize the point spread function alterations introduced by the high-order vortex modes.

This research also contributes valuable insights into beam-matter interactions at the nanoscale, particularly interactions involving complex field distributions. The controlled phase singularities and orbital angular momentum transferred from high-order vortex beams can influence fluorophore excitation dynamics and photophysics, aspects that Tan and Huang’s team have meticulously analyzed. Understanding these effects not only improves imaging fidelity but also informs the design of novel fluorescent probes tuned to respond to structured light excitation environments.

Importantly, the experimental validation involved imaging biological specimens labeled with conventional organic dyes and photoactivatable fluorescent proteins, verifying that the enhanced MINFLUX method achieves localization precisions approaching single-digit nanometers. Comparative analyses demonstrate marked resolution improvements compared to standard MINFLUX approaches, with the added benefits of decreased imaging times and reduced photodamage. This performance leap promises to accelerate investigations in systems biology, neuroscience, and nanomedicine.

Looking ahead, integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning with high-order vortex beam MINFLUX could further optimize beam patterns, compensate for system aberrations, and enhance real-time data interpretation. Such computational assistance might unlock adaptive imaging schemes where excitation profiles are dynamically tailored to specific sample features or biological events, maximizing information extraction while conserving sample integrity.

In conclusion, Tan and Huang’s innovative fusion of MINFLUX nanoscopy with high-order vortex beams addresses longstanding limitations in single-molecule localization microscopy. By harnessing the unique spatial and phase characteristics of vortex light, they have engineered an optical platform that elevates resolution, specificity, and sample compatibility to new heights. This advancement stands as a landmark achievement, poised to become a foundational tool in the expanding arsenal of nanoscale optical imaging technologies with far-reaching implications for scientific discovery and biomedical innovation.

Subject of Research:
MINFLUX nanoscopy enhancement using high-order vortex beams for improved super-resolution fluorescence imaging.

Article Title:
MINFLUX nanoscopy enhanced with high-order vortex beams.

Article References:
Tan, XJ., Huang, Z. MINFLUX nanoscopy enhanced with high-order vortex beams. Light Sci Appl 14, 184 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01822-0

Image Credits:
AI Generated

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-01822-0