Hybrid multifocal structured illumination microscopy with enhanced lateral resolution and axial localization capability

Super-resolution (SR) fluorescence microscopy that breaks through the diffraction barrier has drawn great interest in biomedical research. However, obtaining a high precision three-dimensional distribution of the specimen in a short time still remains a challenging task for existing techniques. In this paper, we propose a super-resolution fluorescence microscopy with axial localization capability by combining multifocal structured illumination microscopy with a hybrid detection PSF composed of a Gaussian PSF and a double-helix PSF. A modified reconstruction scheme is presented to accommodate the new hybrid PSF. This method can not only recover the lateral super-resolution image of the specimen but also retain the specimen's depth map within a range of 600 nm with an axial localization precision of 20.8 nm. The performance of this approach is verified by testing fluorescent beads and tubulin in 293-cells. The developed microscope is well suited for observing the precise 3D distribution of thin specimens. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement