STED Resolution

Estimate idealized STED resolution from depletion and saturation intensities.

Description

Idealized STED resolution scales a supplied diffraction baseline by depletion intensity relative to saturation.

Idealized STED resolution scales a supplied diffraction baseline by depletion intensity relative to saturation. Higher modeled intensity gives a smaller resolution length.^[1]

Estimate idealized STED resolution from depletion and saturation intensities.

When to use STED Resolution

Use this tool to estimate idealized STED resolution from depletion and saturation intensities.

Prepare the optical measurements, geometry, fitted coefficients or caller-selected thresholds requested. Confirm wavelength, radius/diameter, pulse-width, angle and unit conventions before running the calculation.

How to use STED Resolution and understand its results

Prepare the optical measurements, geometry, fitted coefficients or caller-selected thresholds requested. Confirm wavelength, radius/diameter, pulse-width, angle and unit conventions before running the calculation.
Enter diffractionLimitedResolutionNanometers, depletionIntensityWPerM2, saturationIntensityWPerM2 using the field table and calculation rules, then run the tool.
Read stedResolutionNanometers, resolutionImprovementFactor. The explanation below defines the units, signs, ordering and any flags or placeholder values.
If the tool reports an input issue, correct the values and run it again. Apply the stated assumptions when interpreting a successfully returned result.

Input field	Meaning	Value type; see rules below	Requirement
diffractionLimitedResolutionNanometers	Un-depleted resolution (nm)	number; minimum: 0	Required
depletionIntensityWPerM2	STED depletion intensity (W/m²)	number; minimum: 0	Required
saturationIntensityWPerM2	Saturation intensity (W/m²)	number; minimum: 0	Required

Enter nonnegative baseline resolution/intensity and positive saturation intensity. Return resolution in nm and improvement factor.

factor=sqrt(1+Idepletion/Isaturation); resolution=baseline/factor

Units, indexing, boundary conditions and exceptional cases are defined in the calculation rules above.

Output field	Meaning	Value type
stedResolutionNanometers	Estimated STED resolution (nm)	number; minimum: 0
resolutionImprovementFactor	Resolution improvement factor	number; minimum: 1

json

{
  "input": {
    "diffractionLimitedResolutionNanometers": 200,
    "depletionIntensityWPerM2": 3,
    "saturationIntensityWPerM2": 1
  },
  "output": {
    "stedResolutionNanometers": 100,
    "resolutionImprovementFactor": 2
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

No fluorophore kinetics, depletion pattern, aberration or damage model is included.

Numeric inputs must be finite. Follow the calculation-specific rules for overflow, underflow and exceptional cases. Missing required fields, extra fields, wrong value types and violations of the calculation rules are input errors.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Use SIM Resolution Improvement: Estimate structured-illumination resolution from a measured widefield baseline and improvement factor. For a complementary task, use Confocal Lateral Resolution: Estimate confocal lateral FWHM and a simple finite-pinhole adjustment.

References

STED Resolution — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

SIM Resolution Improvement
Estimate structured-illumination resolution from a measured widefield baseline and improvement factor.
Confocal Lateral Resolution
Estimate confocal lateral FWHM and a simple finite-pinhole adjustment.