[CNC] Do dim things: why low light imaging capabilities enable advances in research and medicine

https://bit.ly/3gTC9xN

Stephanie Fullerton, Hamamatsu

The past decade of camera development ushered in a new era of low light imaging that was previously unfathomable.  EMCCDs enabled the first precision localization super resolution experiments.  These cameras, along with highly sensitive PMTs, were part of the story of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  From EMCCDs we progressed to scientific CMOS. These cameras are now the workhorse for PCR, digital pathology whole slide imaging and low-cost gene sequencing.  As the go-to technology for almost every advanced microscopy technique, they are applied to elucidating the inner workings of cells, the connectivity and activity of the brain, the mysteries of embryogenesis and the pathology of disease. As research progresses and optical designs become refined, the technical advances in the lab will make their way into the clinic, both as data-driven treatments and diagnostic instruments.