3D Image Super-Resolution by fluorophore fluctuations and MA-TIRF Microscopy reconstruction (3D-COL0RME)

TL;DR

This paper introduces 3D-COL0RME, a novel super-resolution microscopy method that enhances 3D spatial resolution in TIRF imaging by combining sparsity-based localisation with multi-angle reconstruction, without special equipment.

Contribution

The paper presents a new 3D super-resolution approach that improves axial and lateral resolution using a sparsity model and multi-angle TIRF, applicable with standard fluorophores.

Findings

Significant resolution improvements demonstrated on simulated data.

Effective 3D reconstruction validated on real MA-TIRF data.

Method does not require specialized equipment.

Abstract

We propose a 3D super-resolution approach to improve both lateral and axial spatial resolution in Total Internal Reflectance Fluorescence (TIRF) imaging applications. Our approach, called 3D-COL0RME (3D - Covariance-based $\ell_0$ super-Resolution Microscopy with intensity Estimation) improves both lateral and axial resolution by combining sparsity-based modelling for precise molecule localisation and intensity estimation in the lateral plane with a 3D reconstruction procedure in the axial one using Multi-Angle TIRF (MA-TIRF). Differently from state-of-the-art approaches, 3D-COL0RME does not require the use of special equipment as it can be used with standard fluorophores. We validate 3D-COL0RME on simulated MA-TIRF blinking-type data and on challenging real MA-TIRF acquisitions, showing significant resolution improvements.