This on-demand webinar explores how integrated tools can improve electron microscopy workflows, covering everything from sample preparation to image analysis.
Experts Adrian Boey, Andreia Pinto, and Hoyin Lai introduce the UC Enuity ultramicrotome and the Aivia image analysis platform, showcasing their application in both room temperature and cryogenic environments.
The session will also feature practical examples, including deep learning-based segmentation, array tomography, and cryo-lift-out workflows for biological imaging.
Key takeaways
- Learn how to use the UC Enuity and AT module for streamlining serial sectioning for volume EM.
- Learn how to perform in-situ targeting under cryogenic conditions within cryo-EM workflows.
- See how integrated imaging and AI-powered analysis can enhance the interpretation of 3D EM data.
Combining automation, AI, and cryo techniques for accurate 3D reconstruction
Learn how to streamline your electron microscopy (EM) workflow with Leica Microsystems’ UC Enuity and Aivia platforms.
The session begins with an overview of UC Enuity, a motorized ultramicrotome designed to deliver consistent and efficient sectioning. Features such as auto-alignment and auto-trimming reduce manual effort and improve reproducibility, which is especially valuable in array tomography, where maintaining section integrity is critical for accurate 3D reconstruction.
You'll also see how these tools are applied in a practical setting through the preparation of Trichomonas parasite samples. Learn how the OTO staining method enhances contrast and enables the creation of ribbons of ultrathin sections for downstream imaging.
From there, the focus shifts to image analysis with Aivia, Leica’s AI-powered platform. You'll discover how deep learning models can be trained using annotated EM data to segment cells and organelles.
In addition, you’ll explore 3D object reconstruction and mesh editing tools that help visualize structures such as hydrogenosomes, nuclei, flagella, and lysosomes. The session also highlights how annotated datasets can be reused for future model training and leveraged to extract quantitative insights into organelle morphology and spatial localization.
The workflow then expands into cryogenic applications, showing how UC Enuity can be integrated into cryo sample preparation. Learn how cryo-planing techniques are used to expose vitrified biological material for imaging, and how the UC Enuity cryo configuration, combined with STELLARIS Cryo, allows researchers to identify regions of interest through fluorescence microscopy.
You’ll follow the full cryo lift-out workflow - from sample freezing and fluorescence-based targeting to Cryo-FIB SEM and Cryo-TEM imaging.
To ground these techniques in real-world research, the session features case studies using C. elegans and mouse brain tissue. Learn how to locate and image specific structures within complex biological samples, correlate confocal and SEM data, prepare lamellae, and carry out 3D reconstructions - even under challenging conditions like surface artifacts or ice contamination.
Overall, this webinar will give you some key insights into how AI, automation, and cryo techniques, when combined, can support research in structural and cellular biology.
About the speakers
Dr. Andreia Pinto began her career as a Biomedical Scientist specializing in Histocellular Pathology, with a strong interest in electron microscopy.
In 2014, she joined the Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) diagnostic team in Lisbon.
In 2019, she moved to the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, where she worked as a Thoracic Research Associate. There, she led the development of a deep learning platform designed to recognize patterns in EM images of cilia to support PCD diagnosis.
She completed her PhD on this topic in 2022, which also included research into the infection pathways of SARS-CoV-2 in the respiratory airway.
Dr. Pinto is currently an Advanced Workflow Application Specialist at Leica Microsystems, based at the Imaging Center of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg.
Dr. Adrian Boey earned his Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne in 2011, focusing on the gene regulation of Cytochrome P450 enzymes.
His career spans a diverse range of fields, including genetics, microbiology, and electron microscopy.
He currently serves as the Applications Specialist for EM Sample Preparation equipment and Cell DIVE in Southeast Asia and Taiwan at Leica Microsystems. Dr. Boey has a strong interest in both electron microscopy and spatial biology.
Hoyin studied Bioengineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he designed a single-stroke peristaltic pump for fluid delivery in microfluidic devices. He joined the Aivia team in 2010 as an Application Engineer and has been closely involved in its development ever since.
Since the launch of Aivia in 2017, Hoyin has focused on applying artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to create advanced image analysis solutions for life science researchers.