Extending of imaging volume in soft x-ray tomography

Abstract

Soft x-ray tomography offers rapid whole single cell imaging with a few tens of nanometers spatial resolution without fixation or labelling. At the moment, this technique is limited to 10 µm thick specimens, such that applications of soft x-ray tomography to large human cells or multicellular specimens are not possible. We have developed a theoretical and experimental framework for soft x-ray tomography to enable extension of imaging volume to 18 µm thick specimens. This approach, based on long depth of field and half-acquisition tomography, is easily applicable to existing full-rotation based microscopes. This opens applications for imaging of large human cells, which are often observed in cancer research and cell to cell interactions.