Achievement

COSI-IGERT participants at the University of Colorado Boulder - ECEE Department - have developed methods for optimal 3D single-molecule localization in a general framework for noisy, aberrated and engineered PSF imaging. The localization estimator is efficient, meaning it reaches the fundamental lower bound of x, y, and z localization precision. In order to find the position of single molecules, the method uses advanced signal processing algorithms in conjunction with engineered phase masks to create a double-helix point spread function. Experimental application of these methods demonstrates unmatched 3D wide-field single-molecule localization performance with low photon counts. This type of instrument could be used in studies of the fine structure and function of the cell. These findings were reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.