Adaptive Resolution Microscope for Fast Structural and Functional Optical Imaging

Baylor College Of Medicine, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides support for development of a type of confocal microscope that will be able to scan samples much more rapidly than current commercial instruments. Optical imaging techniques play an important role in studying structure and function of nerve cells, a role that has been facilitated by advanced techniques such as multiphoton microscopy. This type of microscopy allows collection of high-quality structural images as well as high-fidelity transient signals from light-scattering preparations such as living tissue. While the spatial resolution of existing instruments of this type is remarkable, their temporal resolution has been limited by use of mechanical devices to scan the specimen. As a result, drastic sacrifices of spatial resolution are usually necessary when monitoring fast cellular signaling. The instrument to be developed will combine the use of Multiphoton Microscopy with Acousto-Optic Laser Scanning. For structural Imaging, the instrument will permit significantly higher spatial resolution at fast frame rates. For observation of transient signals (functional imaging), it will allow the user to select points of interest from previously imaged structures and perform multi-site measurements at frame rates of more than 1000 per second. The instrument will be of great advantage for experimental work in neuroscience where it will allow study the computational properties of individual neurons in brain slices by imaging dendritic structures and their function, and to study processing of sensory information in intact brain. Other applications are likely to include imaging of structure and function in excitable non-neuronal tissue, such as heart, smooth and skeletal muscle, and imaging of other light-scattering biological preparations.