This transmission electron microscope operates at a voltage of 20-100 kV and is equipped with a Quemesa (Olympus Soft Imaging Solutions) camera. Image acquisition is achieved using RADIUS software. This electron microscope combines good magnification power and resolution with easy handling and is particularly suitable for organic and biological samples. The low accelerating voltage (100 kV) of this microscope is ideal for the observation of samples prone to structural damage due to the electron beam, avoiding the destruction of the specimen. The EM208 has a resolving power of about 2 nm for biological specimens, usually observed at low magnification (≤ 20,000 x).
The EM208 microscope is suitable to investigate many fields of cell biology and medicine using a variety of preparatory methods. Analysis of samples of cells or tissues is routinely performed on this microscope. The resolution power of the microscope allows the imaging of cellular organelles, among which vesicles like exosomes and liposomes, and to investigate, for example, the effect of nanomaterials on cells. These samples are prepared by treatment with chemical stains.
The results of the analysis with the EM208 microscope depend on a series of crucial procedures, among which fixation procedures, resin inclusion, section preparation with ultra-microtome (60 -100 nm thickness), and observation. The CIMA has the facilities and the specialized personnel to prepare thin sections of the samples.
Instrument manager: Dr. Roberta Bortul (PhD in Human morphological sciences, responsible for the preparation of biological samples).
Availability
Location
Interdepartmental Center for Advanced Microscopy (CIMA) of the University of Trieste
via Fleming 31/B, Trieste
Access
The instrument is available for 15 percent of machine time for network activities.
Output examples
Human fibroblasts (glutaraldehyde and osmium tetroxide fixations, resin embedding, and 90 nm section staining with UranyLess and lead citrate, EM Stain)
