As a part of NOBIC micro-Talks series, in this session, Dr Foo Yong Hwee, Senior Research Fellow from Advanced Biofilm Imaging Facility manager, NTU Optical Bio-Imaging Centre (NOBIC) shares about Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscopy (VP-SEM) of biological samples with little to no sample preparation.
In this talk, Dr Foo provides an introduction to scanning electron microscopy, in particular VP-SEM.
VP-SEM operates at low vacuum (a few to several hundreds of Pa) for imaging non-conductive specimens in a non-destructive manner. The low vacuum suppress vaporization of moisture or oil in the specimen – removal of moisture is not required (as long as it is not wet or contains primarily water). Charge-up is prevented by the ionization of the residual gas in the chamber, so coating is required.
Select images captured using SEM are also shared with the audience during the talk, including the spectacularly VP-SEM captured image as show below, of a mealybug on a leave taken from a plant in SCELSE’s B2 pantry. They secrete a powdery wax substance as a protective coating.
The full talk is available for view here.
Credits: Foo Yong Hwee, Radek Machan , NTU Optical Bio-Imaging Centre (NOBIC)
