Winship Installs Lattice Sheet Microscope

The Winship Cancer Institute at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center at Emory University became one of only 15 sites worldwide to receive a lattice sheet microscope.

Different than conventional microscopy, lattice light sheet microscopy allows investigators to view live cells at the highest combined 4D resolution attainable. The system integrates two orthogonal or perpendicular lenses that are perfectly matched. A thin sheet of light is made up of multiple beams in a lattice providing optimal illumination of the sample.

"This microscope will allow us to probe how living cancer cells behave in real time with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution," said Adam Marcus, director of Emory's Integrated Cellular Imaging Shared Resource.

Another advantage of the lattice sheet microscope is that over time it causes minimal light damage to cells.

"You can start to see processes that you couldn’t see before on a normal microscope. The speed at which cellular processes occur are often so fast that you can't properly see them under a regular microscope," said Neil Anthony, an assistant scientist in the Integrated Cellular Imaging Shared Resource.

Acquisition of this novel technology was supported by a partnership of Winship and the Georgia Research Alliance.