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Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy (SICM) is the latest addition to the family of Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM), offering high-resolution topographic imaging of immersed samples with non-contact - making SICM the only high-resolution imaging technique not to come in contact with the sample surface during image acquisition. This makes Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy ideally suited for imaging living cells and soft materials in fluid.
In March 2009, Ionscope introduced Hopping Mode SICM - taking the technique to the next level in versatility and usability. While tall/convoluted surface features remain challenging for traditional line scanning SPM imaging techniques, the ICnano® can now for the first time routinely image almost any size and shape of feature up to 100 µm in height. This novel, non-contact approach makes the ICnano® scanning ion conductance microscope an ideal tool in the study of:

• Living cells/bacteria under physiological conditions
• Virology
• Membranes
• Soft surfaces such as polymers & lipid rafts
• Electrophysiology
• Neurology
• Dental / Bone applications
• Biofilms
• Corrosion

SICM is an SPM technology, but is unlike Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and other Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) techniques used to acquire images in liquid. Here are a few of the benefits you'll experience with SICM!

• High resolution of living cells and soft material
• Nanoscale imaging
• 3 dimensional data
• Real world sample conditions
• Live cells immersed in liquid
• No sample fixation required
• User Friendly
• No laser alignment
• No AFM probe or cantilever mounting
• Non-contact imaging

The ICnano® from Ionscope can also be combined with hybrid techniques:

• Optical/Confocal/FRET/TIRF microscopies
• Electrophysiology/patch-clamping to perform studies at a nano-scale
• Nano-mechanical studies with controlled pressure instead of physical contact force
• Nano-deposition / nano-injection

 SICM opens the door to many new areas of investigation of living cells and soft matter including;

• High resolution observation of cell dynamics over extended time periods 
• Single channel patch clamping or nano-scale patch clamping 
• Acquire fluorescence and surface image with a single scan
• Correlation of fluorescence and surface images

Application examples:

Depicted is a series of images acquired by Hopping Mode SICM images of Inner and outer Auditory Hair Cells, Nature Methods (2009), data is courtesy of the author Pavel Novak and colleagues at Imperial College in the UK.