Integration of a scanning ion conductance microscope into phase contrast optics and its application to the quantification of morphological parameters of selected cells.

We have previously described a pulse-mode scanning ion conductance microscope to investigate membrane surfaces and volume changes of individual cells in culture. We have now developed a miniaturized scanning headstage that enables us to select individual cells for recording under phase contrast optics, considerably improving the selection of individual cells for scanning as well as the positioning of the scanning frames with respect to the position of the cell somata. We show an application in which surfaces and volumes of somata and processes of cultured cells from the central nervous system were quantified separately.