US Patent 7820982 - 3D TEM using nanoparticles

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7820982.html

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides the capability of studying biomaterials with resolutions measured in angstroms and this patent from Korea Basic Science Institute teaches a way to use nanoparticles as markers to extend TEM to three dimensional analysis. Claim 1 reads:

1. A grid for transmission electron microscopy tomography, comprising:

a mesh sheet for protecting an upper objects; and

a support film formed on the mesh sheet and having nanoparticles dispersed throughout,

wherein the nanoparticles are used as reference points in reconstruction of two-dimensional images into a three-dimensional image.