The ability to visualize transparent objects such as biological cells is of fundamental importance in biology and medical diagnostics. Conventional approaches to achieve this include phase-contrast ...

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have achieved high-resolution visualization of cellular organelles, such as nuclei and mitochondria, using an external apodized phase contrast (ExAPC) microscope.

The invention that first enabled researchers to see clear images of living cells was the phase-contrast microscope, which won its inventor, Frits Zernike, a Nobel Prize in 1932. Prior to Zernike's ...