3D Microscopy at EM Resolution

Gatan’s revolutionary 3View™ system uses a high precision ultra-microtome operating in situ within a variable pressure, FE SEM, and allows automated acquisition of 3D ultrastructure by sequentially imaging the freshly cut, resin embedded block face.
Due to serial imaging of the block face there is excellent registration between all images within an image stack. This allows simple exporting of the image files for 3-D rendering, without the need for tedious post-processing.

3View takes advantage of the finely focused electron beam in the SEM, enabling spatial resolution an order of magnitude better than from confocal microscopy. 3D resolution is maintained throughout the sectioning depth. Depending on the specimen and its preparation, 30nm slice thickness can be obtained. Similar fine depth resolution in the image contrast mechanism can be achieved using Gatan’s very high sensitivity BSE detector.