image: Schematic diagram of multi-plane microscope. The model of the laser is Coherent Verdi G5. OBJ is the microscopic objective (Olympus LUCPLFLN40X).
Credit: HIGHER EDUCATON PRESS
Wide-field quantum sensing with fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) in biological systems offers significant potential for understanding intracellular dynamics at the nanoscale. However, current wide-field quantum sensing methods are limited to 2D correlated measurements. 3D correlated quantum sensing remains challenging due to the inherent properties of wide-field microscopy. Here, we have developed a multi-plane wide-field microscope platform that achieves an imaging volume of 50 × 50 × 5 μm³. This is accomplished by simultaneously imaging eight focal planes at varying sample depths using a beam-splitting prism. By employing a Fourier-transform-based fluorescent particle positioning method, the platform attains lateral positioning precision of 9 nm and axial precision of 12 nm. Using this platform, we performed correlated 3D positioning of FNDs in mouse cardiomyocytes and conducted optically detected magnetic resonance on nitrogen-vacancy color centers within intracellular FNDs. Our results demonstrate the potential of this platform for single-particle tracking and highlight its capability to achieve correlated 3D quantum sensing.
Journal
Biophysics Reports
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
3D positioning and optically detected magnetic resonance of intracellular fluorescent nanodiamonds using a multi-plane microscope
Article Publication Date
1-Feb-2026