Microscope Using Super-resolution for Exploration (MUSE)

nbsp;Leiden Measurement Technology (LMT) proposes to design and construct the Microscope Using Super-resolution for Exploration (MUSE), a compact luminescence microscope operating from the deep ultraviolet through visible (DUV-VIS) using structured illumination microscopy (SIM) techniques to achieve super-resolution imaging. MUSE will be the first-of-its-kind DUV-VIS SIM fluorescence microscope based on the ICEE-2-funded Europa Luminescence Microscope (ELM) microscope. It will retain ELMrsquo;s ability to excite fluorescence at four different wavelengths, including the deep ultraviolet (DUV), enabling imaging of both native and stain-induced fluorescence. Further, MUSE will maintain a small form factor (95 mm x 95 mm cross-section) making it suitable for deployment on Ocean World Missions, including the Europa Lander, as well as future plume sampling missions where it will be a powerful tool for life-detection. nbsp; nbsp;nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; MUSE uses LEDs to illuminate a sample with up to four excitation wavelengths: 265nm, 370nm, 470nm, and 530nm allowing it to excite autofluorescence in samples (e.g., proteins, metabolites, minerals) as well as work with a variety of common molecular probes that could identify key biomarkers (e.g., fatty acids, phospholipid bilayers, membrane proteins, RNA/DNA).nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; Structured illumination microscopy is a well-established method of increasing the resolution of an optical system by up to a factor of two. MUSE will employ this technique for the first time in the DUV to make a very powerful fluorescence microscope capable of imaging structures with resolution better than 0.2micro;m, making it ideal for detecting and studying small cells or cell fragments.nbsp;