The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Dr. Eric Betzig and Dr. Harald Hess another patent for their invention of super- resolution localization microscopy. In 2007, the microscopy from Carl Zeiss received the exclusive rights to market the technology.
Together with the previously issued patents (U.S. 7,626,694, U.S. 7,828,695, U.S. 7,626,703 and U.S. 7,782,457) substantial systems and methods of super-resolution microscopy are now protected. These methods are based on the separation and localization of molecules to achieve resolution beyond the Abbe resolution limit.
U.S. Patent 7,864,314, published January 4 2011, expands the patent protection to systems and methods utilizing separation by photo-optical transformation of molecules between different energy states. For example, only a few molecules can be activated from a dark state and then localized, or almost all molecules can be transformed into a dark state and the few remaining ones are localized.
This technology expands the ways in which classical dyes can be used for applications in super-resolution microscopy.
This recent patent further confirms the innovative power of Dr. Eric Betzig and Dr. Harald Hess and strengthens further the position of the Carl Zeiss MicroImaging GmbH in the field of super- resolution.
Dr. Betzig and Hess add, “We are pleased that the patent office has recognized the breadth of our concept, including how different classes of optical labels can be used to achieve the condition for super-resolution imaging with localization microscopy”
