Skip to main content
Log in

Imaging the biological microcosmos with a tiny telescope

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

From Nature Biotechnology

View current issue Submit your manuscript

We present the Schmidt objective, a novel astronomy-inspired concept for designing multi-immersion microscope objectives with high numerical aperture, long working distance and large field of view. The Schmidt objective uses a spherical mirror and a correction plate to focus light. It is well suited for high-resolution imaging deep inside cleared biological samples.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1: Concept of the multi-immersion Schmidt objective.

References

  1. Richardson, D. S. et al. Tissue clearing. Nat Rev. Methods Primers 1, 84 (2021). This review article presents an overview of tissue clearing.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Zhao, S. et al. Cellular and molecular probing of intact human organs. Cell. 180, 796–812.e19 (2020). This paper reports SHANEL, a method to clear and stain entire human organs.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Schmidt, B. Ein lichtstarkes komafreies Spiegelsystem. Zentral-Zeitung für Optik und Mechanik 52(Heft 2), 25–26 (1931). This paper is describes the Schmidt telescope, invented in 1930 by the Estonian-born optician and astronomer Bernhard Schmidt (1879–1935).

    Google Scholar 

  4. McConnell, G. et al. A novel optical microscope for imaging large embryos and tissue volumes with sub-cellular resolution throughout. eLife 5, e18659 (2016). This paper introduces the Mesolens, a microscope objective with a massively increased field of view.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Voigt, F. F. et al. Reflective multi-immersion microscope objectives inspired by the Schmidt telescope. Nat. Biotechnol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-01717-8 (2023).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Imaging the biological microcosmos with a tiny telescope. Nat Biotechnol 42, 36–37 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-01740-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-01740-9

  • Springer Nature America, Inc.

Navigation