Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope Image (Click to enlarge) Assembling the Slices o far, so good. However, what has been captured is an image of a single point. To obtain a complete image of all of the points in the same focal plane, we need to scan the entire specimen at the same precise depth. And that's where "laser scanning" comes in. By scanning the specimen on the X and Y axes we can obtain an accurate image of a very thin slice of the specimen . The next step is to obtain multiple "slices" at different depths within the specimen, which is done by adjusting the focal point deeper or shallower as necessary. When a sufficient number of slices have been obtained, a computer is used to stack and align the resulting images and create a three-dimensional model of the specimen. In this way, researchers can obtain an accurate picture of cell structure and the proteins and other macromolecules inside the cell. What's more, they can observe how various cell components are affected when drugs or other outside agents are introduced into the cell. SIM Scan System (Click to enlarge) Example of Caged Drug Release (Click to enlarge) Olympus Innovation - Two Lasers Are Better Than One In yet another example of the innovation for which Olympus is famous, researchers there recently succeeded in developing a new confocal laser scanning microscope that uses two lasers instead of one. Called the FLUOVIEW FV1000 , it features a new dual-laser SIM Scan system that can provide scientists with a realtime view of the processes at work in living cells. The SIM Scan system (for SIMultaneous SCANning), overcomes one of the major drawbacks of conventional confocal laser scanning systems. With such systems, a single laser is used for both imaging and specimen excitation. While this is an acceptable arrangement for some types of research, it means that while the laser beam is being used to excite a specimen, it cannot be used for observation. This makes it impossible for scientists to observe events that occur in the specimen cell during and immediately after excitation. Let's look at one common research process to see what this means. To study a signal pathway in living cells, some biological materials are often introduced into a specimen in "caged" form . That is, they are bound into a macromolecule from which they can only be released by the application of ultraviolet light. Once the drugs have been introduced into the cell, they are then "uncaged" by using a violet laser beam to excite the macromolecule that contains them. However, it is often the changes and processes that occur at the moment the drug is released that are most critical to understanding the biological molecule's interaction with various cell components. And with single-laser confocal scanning there is no way to obtain a realtime view of those key processes and interactions. With the Olympus SIM Scan system, on the other hand, one laser can be used to excite the specimen while the other laser is used to observe the changes that result, providing a realtime view of events and processes at the moment they occur. Olympus FLUOVIEW FV1000 Looking to the Future Not so long ago, the study of living cells was limited to simply observing their shape. More recently, by using laser microscopy, it became possible for scientists to obtain a three-dimensional view, and to excite cell specimens and observe the result of that excitation. Only now, thanks to Olympus technology, is it possible for scientists to observe the processes of cellular life as they actually occur. Many issues still remain, however, because it is inevitably true that living tissue can be damaged by the lasers that are used to observe it. But in this and other areas, Olympus researchers will continue to seek solutions. As one of the engineers involved in the development of the FLUOVIEW FV1000 put it, "This is not the end of the road by any means. We will continue to work closely with the scientific community, and develop systems that meet the needs of researchers on a broad range of fronts." (OT(Japanese))