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Published November 2002 | public
Journal Article

Surface imaging microscopy, an automated method for visualizing whole embryo samples in three dimensions at high resolution

Abstract

Modern biology is faced with the challenge of understanding the specification, generation, and maintenance of structures ranging from cells and tissues to organs and organisms. By acquiring images directly from the block face of an embedded sample, surface imaging microscopy (SIM) generates high-resolution volumetric images of biological specimens across all of these scales. Surface imaging microscopy expands our range of imaging tools by generating three-dimensional reconstructions of embryo samples at high resolution and high contrast. SIM image quality is not limited by depth or the optical properties of overlying tissue, and intrinsic or extrinsic alignment markers are not required for volume reconstruction. These volumes are highly isotropic, enabling them to be virtually sectioned in any direction without loss of image quality. Surface imaging microscopy provided a more accurate three-dimensional representation of a chick embryo than confocal microscopy of the same sample. SIM offers excellent imaging of embryos from three major vertebrate systems in developmental biology: mouse, chicken, and frog. Immediate applications of this technology are in visualizing and understanding complex morphogenetic events and in making detailed comparisons between normal and genetically modified embryos.

Additional Information

© 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Manuscript Accepted: 28 Aug 2002. Manuscript Received: 2 Jul 2001 Article first published online: 11 Oct 2002. Grant sponsor: NIH NRSA; Grant number: 5 F32 NS10941. We thank Paul Gutherie, Michael Bolles, Michael Haugh, Benn Herrera, and all of Resolution Sciences Corporation, for useful conversations and technical assistance. We also thank David Koos and John Wallingford for useful conversations and David Crotty and Mary Dickinson for providing mouse embryos. A.J.E., H.M., and S.E.F. served as occasional consultants to Resolution Sciences Corporation during the development of this technology. We thank Resolution Sciences Corporation for generously donating instrument time for this project. A.J.E. is a participant in the Initiative in Computational Molecular Biology, which is funded by an award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Interfaces Program. H.M. is supported by an NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Additional details

Created:
August 21, 2023
Modified:
October 17, 2023