Exploring the use of soft X-ray microscopy for imaging subcellular structures of the inner ear.

The soft X-ray microscope at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was developed for visualization of biological tissue. Soft X-ray microscopy provides high-resolution visualization of hydrated, non-embedded and non-sectioned cells and is thus potentially an alternative to transmission electron microscopy. Here we show for the first time soft X-ray micrographs of structures isolated from the guinea-pig inner ear.