title: What lies beneath? Scanning probe tomography may have the answer.
abstract: Scanning probe microscopy facilitates high-resolution noninvasive imaging of surface topography on even the most delicate of biological structures. Moreover, the local probe nature of the instrument architecture lends itself to the measurement of many important physical properties. To date, biological investigations have largely been constrained to imaging surface (membrane)-borne phenomena; however, the advent of extremely high aspect-ratio 'needle' probe tips, as reported by Beard et al. (2013), suggests that the approach can now be extended to address the particular challenges associated with measuring subsurface microscopic targets, including the intracellular components of the stratum corneum.
authors.affiliation: Carnegie Laboratory for Physics and Division of Molecular Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Conneely
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D004817:Epidermis / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D015595:Skin Aging / Q000502:physiology*