The pixel size of a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera plays a major role in the image resolution, and the square pixels are attributed to the physical anisotropy of the sampling frequency. We synthesize the high sampling frequency directions from multiple frames acquired with different angles to enhance the resolution by 1.4× over conventional CCD orthogonal sampling. To directly demonstrate the improvement of frequency-domain diagonal extension (FDDE) microscopy, lens-free microscopy is used, as its resolution is dominantly determined by the pixel size. We demonstrate the resolution enhancement with a mouse skin histological specimen and a clinical blood smear sample. Further, FDDE is extended to lens-based photography with an ISO 12233 resolution target. This method paves a new way for enhancing the image resolution for a variety of imaging techniques in which the resolution is primarily limited by the sampling pixel size, for example, microscopy, photography, and spectroscopy.

Open-3DSIM is an open-source reconstruction platform for three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy. We demonstrate its superior performance for artifact suppression and high-fidelity reconstruction relative to other algorithms on various specimens and over a range of signal-to-noise levels. Open-3DSIM also offers the capacity to extract dipole orientation, paving a new avenue for interpreting subcellular structures in six dimensions (xyzθλt). The platform is available as MATLAB code, a Fiji plugin and an Exe application to maximize user-friendliness.

The orientation of fluorophores can reveal crucial information about the structure and dynamics of their associated subcellular organelles. Despite significant progress in super-resolution, fluorescence polarization microscopy remains limited to unique samples with relatively strong polarization modulation and not applicable to the weak polarization signals in samples due to the excessive background noise. Here we apply optical lock-in detection to amplify the weak polarization modulation with super-resolution. This novel technique, termed optical lock-in detection super-resolution dipole orientation mapping (OLID-SDOM), could achieve a maximum of 100 frames per second and rapid extraction of 2D orientation, and distinguish distance up to 50 nm, making it suitable for monitoring structural dynamics concerning orientation changes in vivo. OLID-SDOM was employed to explore the universal anisotropy of a large variety of GFP-tagged subcellular organelles, including mitochondria, lysosome, Golgi, endosome, etc. We found that OUF (Orientation Uniformity Factor) of OLID-SDOM can be specific for different subcellular organelles, indicating that the anisotropy was related to the function of the organelles, and OUF can potentially be an indicator to distinguish normal and abnormal cells (even cancer cells). Furthermore, dual-color super-resolution OLID-SDOM imaging of lysosomes and actins demonstrates its potential in studying dynamic molecular interactions. The subtle anisotropy changes of expanding and shrinking dendritic spines in live neurons were observed with real-time OLID-SDOM. Revealing previously unobservable fluorescence anisotropy in various samples and indicating their underlying dynamic molecular structural changes, OLID-SDOM expands the toolkit for live cell research.

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With optical section and defocus removal effect, three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy (3DSIM) can get a whole sight of intracellular organelle. Here, Open-3DSIM is reported as an open-source reconstruction platform with double improvement on lateral and axial resolution. MATLAB code, ImageJ version and Exe application are provided for biologists and engineers to maximize its user-friendliness and prompt its further development. Through adaptive parameter estimation and spectrum filter optimization, we demonstrate its superior performance of artifact suppression and defocus elimination over other algorithms on various specimens, under gradient signal-to-noise levels. Moreover, with the capacity to extract the dipole orientation, Open-3DSIM paves a new avenue for interpreting the subcellular structures in six dimensions.