The onus of sample characterisation and data correlation – Elementary, my dear Watson!

Session

FIB Applications & EM Sample Prep Techniques in Biological Sciences

Authors

Pedro Machado (1), Louise Hughes (1)

Affiliations

1. Oxford Instruments NanoAnalysis

Keywords

Sample preparation, Multimodal microscopy, multimodal imaging, correlative microscopy, correlative imaging, image analysis, image analysis software, AFM, SEM, TEM, EDS, EDX, Raman, light microscopy.

Abstract text

Characterising your samples and optimising preparation workflows has always been key for electron microscopy of biological specimens (biological EM). In Life Sciences, the combination of different imaging modalities is essential for merging structural, chemical, and physical information.

Energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS) can be used as an analytical and imaging method, providing information on chemical composition, and mapping the localisation of different elements (endogenous or exogenous) within the samples.

For combining the multimodal datasets, it is necessary to read image and data files from a variety of techniques (AFM, Raman, Light Microscopy, Electron Microscopy, EDS, etc.). The data collected from different imaging systems can be visualized and colocalised using the Relate software package, assisting the interpretation and analysis of microscopy and spectroscopy in 2D and 3D.

In this Techno Bite you will see how using EDS in combination with biological EM enables the localisation and quantification endogenous elements, as well as elements introduced during the preparation steps.  You will also be shown how correlating data from different microscopes can be a straightforward part of your analysis pipeline.