FocalPlane - Where biology meets microscopy

Welcome to FocalPlane

FocalPlane is a community site for anyone who uses microscopy in their research. It is a place where you can interact with a global community of imaging scientists, engineers, chemists, and bioimage analysts.

FocalPlane is your site and once registered, you are free to share a blog post, add an image to our gallery, post a job advert or put up an event listing.

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Recent posts

Imaging spotlight: Altair-LSFM

Posted by FocalPlane, on 9 March 2026

In this paper highlight from Kevin Dean and colleagues, we learn about Altair-LSFM, a light-sheet fluorescence microscope that they designed so it can be built and operated in biology labs without needing a full-time optical engineer.

Microscopy preprints – applications in biology

Posted by FocalPlane, on 9 March 2026

Here is a curated selection of preprints published recently. In this post, we share preprints that use microscopy tools to answer questions in biology.

JCS snapshot: Redefining colocalization analysis with a novel phasor mixing coefficient

Posted by FocalPlane, on 6 March 2026

In our latest JCS snapshot we hear from Owen Puls, who together with Teng-Leong Chew and team define a new strategy for quantifying biological association that leverages multispectral imaging and phasor analysis, termed the phasor mixing coefficient (PMC). In this snapshot, Owen takes us through the key findings from their research.

Imaging spotlight: the axonal membrane-associated periodic skeleton

Posted by FocalPlane, on 5 March 2026

In this paper highlight, Nick Boyer takes us through the key results and imaging techniques that they used in their research dissecting the axonal membrane-associated periodic skeleton with Rohan Sharma, Christophe Leterrier, Subhojit Roy and colleagues.

Workshop report: CSHL Quantitative Imaging (QI): From Acquisition to Analysis

Posted by FocalPlane, on 4 March 2026

Estefania Sanchez-Vasquez shares her workshop report from the CSHL course on Quantitative Imaging (QI): From Acquisition to Analysis. Estefania’s attendance was supported by a JCS-FocalPlane Training Grant.

Imaging spotlight: PhotoFiTT

Posted by FocalPlane, on 2 March 2026

In this paper highlight, we learn about PhotoFiTT, a framework for measuring phototoxicity in live-cell fluorescence microscopy. Mario Del Rosario and Estibaliz Gómez-de-Mariscal, the co-first authors of PhotoFiTT answer our questions about their work.

Featured image with Ioannis Theodorou

Posted by FocalPlane, on 27 February 2026

Our featured image, from Ioannis Theodorou, was acquired with Leica Stellaris 8 and the TauSeparation mode. It is the TauContrast channel and it shows the average fluorophore lifetime per pixel. The image was processed on Las X and inkscape. The region shown comes from compressed wood tissue.

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