Until now, it has been technically nearly impossible to rotate highly sensitive samples in all directions under a microscope without making contact. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a new laser-based technique that allows microscopic samples such as cells to be rotated contact-free in all three spatial directions. The laser creates tiny temperature differences in the liquid, which trigger gentle fluid flows that move the sample. This protects delicate samples and enables more accurate three-dimensional images-an important step for basic medical research.
Modern optical microscopes can produce extremely sharp images in a single plane, comparable to a photograph, but depth information is often imprecise. To overcome this limitation, samples must be imaged from multiple viewing angles and the images combined into a three-dimensional model. This requires rotating the object under investigation. The new method makes it possible to do this in an exceptionally gentle manner.
