Cryo-electron microscopy is a pivotal technique for resolving biological ultrastructure, where high-quality
sample preparation, particularly cryo-thinning for thick samples, is essential. Traditional cryo-thinning techniques,
such as cryo-ultramicrotomy, face challenges including sample compression artifacts, operational complexity, low
efficiency, and insufficient positioning accuracy, which constrain in situ structural biology research. Driven by the
increasing demand for high-fidelity, high-precision in situ observation, correlative light and electron microscopy has
become the core development direction. The Chinese Academy of Sciences Scientific Instruments High-End Instrument
Research Institute(Beijing) and the Institute of Biophysics,Chinese Academy of Sciences team have successfully
commercialized an innovative achievement—the ELI-Triscope System. This system realizes groundbreaking “three
beam co-focusing,” integrating an inverted fluorescence imaging system. By monitoring the actual fluorescence
signals of target molecules, it achieves “cutting while seeing,” resolving the traditional “blind cutting” dilemma.
With positioning accuracy better than 200 nanometers, it enhances the capability for targeted thinning of subcellular
structures. Simultaneously, by eliminating ice contamination risks associated with sample transfer, it drastically
reduces sample preparation time to approximately 45 minutes per sample. This provides robust support from a
domestically developed tool for the precise analysis of organelle-scale in situ three-dimensional structures.