# Superresolution Light Sheet Microscopy for imaging model organisms with 200nm resolution

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2021 · $226,500

## Abstract

Project Summary
Light Sheet Microscopy has become an essential tool for investigating a wide variety of biological problems from
developmental questions to mapping neural circuits. Light Sheet Microscopy is attractive due to its excellent
optical sectioning in thick samples, low phototoxicity which can allow imaging over multiple days and high frame
rates which make it possible to capture firing neurons. Many different types of Light Sheet Microscope have been
designed and built, many of which have impressive capabilities. The high-speed Simultaneous Multi-View (hs-
SiMView) system and the Swept Confocally Aligned Planar Excitation (SCAPE) microscope can perform
volumetric imaging at 1 to 10 volumes per second with resolutions of 0.5 to 2 microns. While these systems
produce wonderful results, they do not have the resolution to investigate sub-cellular details or trace axons and
dendrites through dense neuropil. The Lattice Light Sheet Microscope (LLSM) can achieve an impressive sub-
200 nm resolution but the system is anisotropic and limited to smaller samples.
Here we propose to develop a novel single-objective structured-illumination light-sheet microscope that will be
capable of fast isotropic imaging at a resolution of 320 nm in all dimensions and resolutions down to 180 nm x
180 nm x 320 nm using a full structured illumination approach. This microscope will employ an easy upright
sample mounting geometry and will further naturally incorporate a multi-direction light sheet which will help to
eliminate shadowing artifacts. This system will have approximately 30 times the volumetric resolution of state-
of-the-art Light Sheet Microscope systems for imaging zebrafish larvae or fruit flies. By allowing biologists to
image model organisms with the resolution to investigate subcellular structures or trace neural processes, this
project will help decode neural circuitry, decipher developmental pathways, and elucidate the mechanisms of
disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10109265
- **Project number:** 1R21GM140366-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Peter Alexander Kner
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $226,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-01-01 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10109265

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10109265, Superresolution Light Sheet Microscopy for imaging model organisms with 200nm resolution (1R21GM140366-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10109265. Licensed CC0.

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