Carl Zeiss has introduced a hardware/software interface to connect light and scanning electron microscopes for correlative microscopy in the life sciences. The “Shuttle & Find” interface enables users to recall regions of interest in fixed specimens in an electron microscope, which were previously identified in a light microscope and vice versa. The entire process takes only a few seconds. This can open up new dimensions in microscopy, enabling rapid and precise overlay of light and electron microscope images, high-resolution magnification of the details and the merger of functional and structural information.
The key elements of Shuttle & Find for correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) include a transferable specimen holder that enables smooth specimen transfer between the light and electron microscopes (Shuttle) and a software module that controls all functions of light and electron microscopes needed to identify and recall the defined region of interest (Find).
“After the successful launch of Shuttle & Find for materials analysis, we are taking the next step and providing scientists in life science disciplines with a productive solution for correlative microscopy,” says Dr. Ulrich Simon, President and CEO of Carl Zeiss MicroImaging GmbH. “As the world’s only provider of both light and electron microscopes in all performance classes, Carl Zeiss is uniquely well suited to bridge the micro and nano worlds.”Yvonne Klöpping