Accelerating 3D single-molecule localization microscopy using blind sparse inpainting.

Sunil Kumar Gaire,Hao F Zhang,Leslie Ying,Yanhua Wang,Dong Liang

doi:10.1117/1.jbo.26.2.026501

Abstract

.Significance: Single-molecule localization-based super-resolution microscopy has enabled the imaging of microscopic objects beyond the diffraction limit. However, this technique is limited by the requirements of imaging an extremely large number of frames of biological samples to generate a super-resolution image, thus requiring a longer acquisition time. Additionally, the processing of such a large image sequence leads to longer data processing time. Therefore, accelerating image acquisition and processing in single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) has been of perennial interest.Aim: To accelerate three-dimensional (3D) SMLM imaging by leveraging a computational approach without compromising the resolution.Approach: We used blind sparse inpainting to reconstruct high-density 3D images from low-density ones. The low-density images are generated using much fewer frames than usually needed, thus requiring a shorter acquisition and processing time. Therefore, our technique will accelerate 3D SMLM without changing the existing standard SMLM hardware system and labeling protocol.Results: The performance of the blind sparse inpainting was evaluated on both simulation and experimental datasets. Superior reconstruction results of 3D SMLM images using up to 10-fold fewer frames in simulation and up to 50-fold fewer frames in experimental data were achieved.Conclusions: We demonstrate the feasibility of fast 3D SMLM imaging leveraging a computational approach to reduce the number of acquired frames. We anticipate our technique will enable future real-time live-cell 3D imaging to investigate complex nanoscopic biological structures and their functions.

Highlights

Single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) such as stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy [(d)STORM],1,2 photoactivated localization microscopyJournal of Biomedical OpticsDownloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/Journal-of-Biomedical-Optics on 02 Nov 2021 Terms of Use: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/terms-of-useFebruary 2021 Vol 26(2)Gaire et al.: Accelerating 3D single-molecule localization microscopy using blind sparse inpainting [(f)PALM],3,4 and other variants[5,6,7,8] have extended the imaging resolution of conventional optical fluorescence microscopy beyond the diffraction limit (∼250 nm)
We demonstrate the feasibility of fast 3D SMLM imaging leveraging a computational approach to reduce the number of acquired frames
Three-dimensional (3D) SMLM9–16 requires additional axial (z axis) information, which is obtained by using z dependent point spread function (PSF).[17]

Summary

Introduction

Gaire et al.: Accelerating 3D single-molecule localization microscopy using blind sparse inpainting [(f)PALM],3,4 and other variants[5,6,7,8] have extended the imaging resolution of conventional optical fluorescence microscopy beyond the diffraction limit (∼250 nm) In these methods, a random and sparse subset of fluorophores in the sample is imaged in each diffraction-limited image frame, whereas a large number of such frames are obtained sequentially. PSFs shapes are generally engineered via the introduction of optical elements such as cylindrical lens,[9] phase mask,[22] or deformable mirror[15] in the imaging pathway of the microscope In both 2D and 3D SMLM imaging, to achieve sufficient dense localizations to reveal biological samples’ details, a large number of sequential diffraction-limited frames (typically >104) are needed, suggesting a long acquisition time.

Objectives

Results

Conclusion