Two-photon 3D STED super-resolution microscope

In March 2017, a two-photon 3D STED super-resolution microscope was installed at the F5 department, providing fluorescent imaging and nanospectroscopy analysis at spatial resolution of 30 nm. Currently, it is used most frequently by the H2020 SmartNano Tox project to research interactions between nanoparticles and live lung epithelium cells to understand how inhalation of different nanoparticles drives the mechanisms of disease development. With this microscope we were able to observe for the first time the breakdown of cell membranes due to nanoparticles, their coating and movement through the epithelium layer. In the scope of other projects (ARRS, MG, SPS), we use the two-photo excitation and detection with the 100 ps resolution to develop and optimise demonstrators and prototypes of ophthalmic lasers based on new technologies.