Atomic Force Microscope
BioScope head- NanoScope IV System Controller Combined with a Zeiss 200 Inverted Optical Microscope
Samples can be examined and imaged in biological fluids or in air. Real-time processes can be observed in action by automatically capturing successive images.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) provides an unprecedented spatial and force resolution in the order of Angstroms and nanonewtons, respectively; therefore, it is ideally suited to study morphology, adhesion, friction and viscoelasticity at the nanometre scale. Increasingly, the technique is adapted and used in biomechanical/biomedical applications at the nano and micrometer scale.
We have used the technique to measure for the first time the molecular interactions between apoptotic and phagocytic cells.