Table 1.

Comparison of SIM, STED, dSTORM, and ExM for imaging of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded renal tissue

	SIM	STED	dSTORM	ExM
Preparation time	2 days	2 days	2 days	3 days
Acquisition time	Milliseconds	Scanning technique, seconds	Seconds	Milliseconds to seconds (widefield/confocal)
Reconstruction time	Seconds	None	Seconds to minutes	None
PFP width (mean ± SD) (published distance)	259 ± 19 nm (249 nm in human samples [27])	252 ± 35 nm (220–260 nm [25])	217 ± 34 nm (200–300 nm [24])	198 ± 26 nm/210 ± 28 nm (247 ± 29 nm [31])
Caveats	Reconstruction artefacts show patterns similar to PFPs	z-Stacking difficult due to quick bleaching of fluorophores	Dotty representation of PFPs, thus lack of complete localization information	Expansion factor varies slightly between experiments; hence, it is challenging to determine exact absolute distances
Ease of use	Moderate	Moderate	Challenging	Simple
Costs	Dedicated system	Dedicated system	Dedicated system	Conventional system
Overall recommendation	++	+	–	+++