Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

• Subject Area: Neurosciences
• Term: Funded in 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 562633649

Understanding the three-dimensional (3D) architecture of tissues, cells, organelles, their connections, and interfaces with their matrix has become a major part of biomedical research and is essential for the understanding of structure-function relationships in modern life science and natural sciences. Electron microscopy (EM) uniquely visualizes cellular structures and tissue hierarchies with nanometer resolution. However, traditional methods, such as thin-section EM or EM tomography, have limitations since they only visualize a single slice or a relatively small volume of interest, respectively. In the context of 3D imaging, more recently, so-called volume electron microscopy (vEM) provides the possibility of layer-by-layer removal of samples in combination with imaging of each layer at high resolution. Collected image stacks then provide information about 3D morphological properties. One type of vEM makes use of an integrated ultramicrotome, allowing the reconstruction of larger volumes and thus generating 3D information of cells, cellular networks, and their interfaces with the tissue matrix at nanometer resolution. The need and interest of tissue- and subcellular volume analysis has grown in the last years and we therefore apply for a serial block face scanning electron microscope, which allows high-resolution and three-dimensional analysis of cancer/tumor cells, immune cells, cellular networks within their matrix, nerve cells and neuronal cell connections or organoids. Together with the recently approved 200kV transmission electron microscope, the Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and this specific volume electron microscope (vEM) with the necessary accessories, a comprehensive range of microscopic approaches using state-of-the-art technologies can be offered from our UKE Core Facility for modern biomedical research. The microscope is versatile and well-suited as part of a long-standing core facility for EM. The here proposed system enables different types of vEM as well as conventional SEM and fills the gap between light- and electron microscopy using correlative techniques like Array Tomography. The microscope is of outstanding importance for the successful implementation of current and planned third-party funded projects and will be operated by the UKE's Central Research Facility for Morphology and Electron Microscopy together with established research units with long-standing electron microscopy research outputs so that competent support and regulated access for all interested working groups will be guaranteed over the next years.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Feldemissions-Rasterelektronenmikroskop
• Instrumentation Group: 5120 Rasterelektronenmikroskope (REM)
• Applicant Institution: Universität Hamburg
• Leader: Michaela Schweizer, Ph.D.