Advancements in Nanopositioning for Today's Microscopy Techniques and Applications

For the development of superresolution microscopy techniques — from the early days of total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, followed by the stimulated emission depletion (STED) and stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) methods, to recent developments in MINFLUX techniques — the ability to control motion and positioning of samples or optical elements down to the nanometer level has been a key enabling technology. Thomas Bocher provides examples of how nanopositioning (motion control) elements are used in superresolution and supercontrast microscopy (light sheet microscopy) techniques. He discusses various technologies and their advantages and limitations in terms of resolution, accuracy, speed, size and motion ranges. Finally, Bocher covers novel designs that combine the performance and long z travel ranges required for deep tissue inspection and multiphoton fluorescence microscopy techniques employed in neuroscience applications.