Achieving single cell acoustic localisation with deactivation super resolution.

Abstract

Photo-activated localization microscopy (PALM) has been a game-changer, breaking the diffraction limit in spatial resolution. This study presents the Deactivation Super Resolution (DSR) method, which utilises the deactivation of genetically encodable contrast agents, enabling us to super-resolve and pinpoint individual cells with ultrasound as they navigate through structures which cannot be resolved by conventional B-Mode imaging. DSR takes advantage of Gas Vesicles (GVs), which are air-filled sub-micron particles that have been expressed in genetically engineered bacterial and mammalian cells to produce acoustic contrast. Our experimental results show that DSR can distinguish sub-wavelength microstructures that standard B-mode ultrasound images fail to resolve by super-localising individual mammalian cells. This study provides a proof of concept for the potential of DSR to serve as a super-resolution ultrasound technique for individual cell localisation, opening new horizons in the field.