To help researchers unlock the full potential of structured illumination microscopy (SIM), two new systems will join the established super-resolution microscope ZEISS Elyra 7 to create a new Lattice SIM product family.

Like ZEISS Elyra 7, the new members of the product family – ZEISS Lattice SIM 3 and ZEISS Lattice SIM 5 – use structured illumination to overcome the physical resolution limits of light microscopy. Each system has implemented this technology to address specific fields of application. The product family thus offers better access to super-resolution imaging for a wider range of applications, from outstanding optical sectioning of tissues and developing organisms to high-speed imaging of living cells to resolution excellence at the molecular level.

Unlike conventional structured illumination techniques, the ZEISS implementation of SIM uses a lattice spot pattern instead of grid lines. This leads to a dramatic increase in imaging speed, higher contrast, and half as much light exposure – making Lattice SIM a preferred live cell imaging technique. In addition, the microscopes of the ZEISS Lattice SIM family employ the SIM Apotome technology for fast, high-resolution optical sectioning of larger samples, such as cell culture models, organoids, and developing organisms. The revolutionary SIM² image reconstruction algorithm provides the additional benefit of a doubled SIM resolution. Making specific use of these technical principles, each product in the family has its own application focus.

ZEISS Lattice SIM 3 is specifically designed to meet the imaging requirements of multicellular organisms and tissue sections. This system exploits the full potential of the SIM Apotome technology: fast optical sectioning at superior quality, large fields of view with access to smaller regions of interest, near-isotropic resolution, and the gentlest super-resolution imaging possible.

ZEISS Lattice SIM 5 has been optimized for single cell imaging as well as capturing subcellular structures and their fast dynamics. Utilizing the Lattice SIM technology and the SIM² image reconstruction algorithm to its fullest capabilities, ZEISS Lattice SIM 5 provides researchers with outstanding super-resolution down to 60 nm in both living and fixed cells.

ZEISS Elyra 7 includes several microscopy techniques: Lattice SIM², SIM² Apotome, single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) and total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF). Users can combine these techniques for deeper insights from their specimen and to correlate the acquired data. With its focus on SMLM, ZEISS Elyra 7 provides resolution excellence down to the molecular level, enabling molecular quantification and the study of molecular interactions.

With the ZEISS Lattice SIM product family, researchers can now address their specific experimental requirements much more precisely by balancing sample size, imaging speed, and super-resolution capabilities according to the needs of their applications. These are the newest imaging tools enabling scientists for discoveries in organoid research, cell biology, developmental biology, neuroscience, immunology and pharma research.