Fine details of morphological changes in biological structures, which approach the resolution limits of a microscope or detection device, are often difficult to determine. These difficulties are compounded if imaging of living specimens is required. In this work we use a variety of software approaches to enhance individual images removed from a video of thrombocyte (platelet) activation on a glass coverslip. Through software approaches, fine details and focal depth were significantly improved in images of pseudopodia from activated thrombocytes.

Many important scientific and technical problems are best addressed using multiple, microscopy-based analytical techniques that combine the strengths of complementary methods. Here, we provide two examples from biomedical challenges: unravelling the attachment zone between dental implants and bone, and uncovering the mechanism of Alzheimer's disease. They combine synchrotron-based scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) with transmission electron microscopy ((S)TEM), electron tomography (ET), EELS tomography, and/or atom probe tomography (APT). STXM provides X-ray absorption based chemical sensitivity at mesoscale resolution (10–30 nm), which complements higher spatial resolution electron microscopy and APT.

Scanning probe microscopies (SPM) have opened the window into characterization of nanoscale functionalities of a broad panoply of materials and devices. This lecture series summarizes the principles, theoretical basis, techniques, and applications of piezoresponse force microscopy and electrochemical strain microscopies, the SPM techniques based on the electromechanical detection. The image formation mechanisms, spectroscopic and excitation modes, imaging in ambient, liquid, and vacuum environments and associated artifacts are discussed, as are application to broad ranges of materials systems from ferroelectrics to energy and information technology materials to biological systems. The lectures are available at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS6ZvEWHZ3OPifI9LVKnHX7tK38iTltOD.

This article introduces an intuitive understanding of electron Ronchigrams and how they are affected by aberrations. This is accomplished through a portable web application, http://Ronchigram.com. The history of the Ronchigram, the physics which define it, and its visual features are reviewed in the context of aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy.