Recent advances of single molecule/particle imaging with optical microscopic methods

Single-molecule and -particle imaging with optical microscopic methods have been widely used in various fields with the advantages of high resolution, high throughput and excellent sensitivity. This review summarized recent progresses of optical microscopic imaging of single-molecule and -particle in the areas of molecular detection, super-resolution imaging and single-particle catalysis. At last, we outlined the challenges and prospect of optical microscopic imaging techniques for single-molecule and -particle assay in biomedical applications.