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Innovate the way we see life | Tomocube Inc. | May 2025

Undetected mycoplasma contamination.

Have you ever dedicated months to an experiment, only to discover that your results had been skewed beyond repair?

Every month, we bring you real-world insights where Tomocube’s holotomography makes a meaningful impact. This time, we will explore the silent but serious threat in cell culture — mycoplasma — and how you can stay ahead of it.

Discover how our 3D imaging platform is redefining what’s visible in live-cell research, offering unmatched high-resolution power for everything from organelle dynamics to unexpected applications like visualizing mycoplasma contamination with a simple, one-click check.

Beyond the Expected — Unmasking the Silent Disruptor

Mycoplasma contamination is a pervasive issue in cell studies. Even low-level infection can alter gene expression, metabolism, or drug response, often without visible signs. Undetectable under conventional microscopes, mycoplasma identification requires laborious and time-consuming methods like PCR or staining.

  • Holotomography’s exceptionally high-resolution allows for the direct visualization of these tiny invaders as irregular refractive index (RI) structures surrounding host cells.
  • TomoAnalysis™ software further simplifies this, offering a built-in detection pipeline that supports quick, label-free quality control during sensitive experiments — no stain, no delay, just clear confirmation.

Mycoplasma segmentation using TomoAnalysis’s ‘Mycoplasma detection pipeline’

See More With Less — A New Standard for Live-Cell Imaging

Fluorescence imaging has long been the go-to for live-cell investigations, but it often forces a trade-off between resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and phototoxicity.

Holotomography overcomes these compromises. It delivers high-content images of subcellular organelles at 156 nm resolution, all while keeping cells intact and alive.

Technical insights:

  • By using LED illumination with a Digital Micro-mirror Device (DMD) to control patterned light, it captures spatial features of the specimen from multiple angles and synthesizes them into a high-resolution 3D RI map.
  • This approach achieves a synthetic numerical aperture (NA) beyond the physical NA of the objective lens — unlocking new levels of clarity in live-cell imaging.

Ready to explore how holotomography can help your research?

Download our latest flyers for detailed specifications of our newest holotomography imaging system and analysis software.