In vivo imaging of subcutaneous structures using functional photoacoustic microscopy

Functional photoacoustic microscopy (fPAM) is a hybrid technology that permits noninvasive imaging of the optical absorption contrast in subcutaneous biological tissues. fPAM uses a focused ultrasonic transducer to detect high-frequency photoacoustic (PA) signals. Volumetric images of biological tissues can be formed by two-dimensional raster scanning, and functional parameters can be further extracted from spectral measurements. fPAM is safe and applicable to animals as well as humans. This protocol provides guidelines for parameter selection, system alignment, imaging operation, laser safety and data processing for in vivo fPAM. It currently takes approximately 100 min to carry out this protocol, including approximately 50 min for data acquisition using a 10-Hz pulse-repetition-rate laser system. The data acquisition time, however, can be significantly reduced by using a laser system with a higher pulse repetition rate.     

1064 nm acoustic resolution photoacoustic microscopy

Photoacoustic imaging is a noninvasive imaging technique having the advantages of high‐optical contrast and good acoustic resolution at improved imaging depths. Light transport in biological tissues is mainly characterized by strong optical scattering and absorption. Photoacoustic microscopy is capable of achieving high‐resolution images at greater depth compared to conventional optical microscopy methods. In this work, we have developed a high‐resolution, acoustic resolution photoacoustic microscopy (AR‐PAM) system in the near infra‐red (NIR) window II (NIR‐II, eg, 1064 nm) for deep tissue imaging. Higher imaging depth is achieved as the tissue scattering at 1064 nm is lesser compared to visible or near infrared window‐I (NIR‐I). Our developed system can provide a lateral resolution of 130 μm, axial resolution of 57 μm, and image up to 11 mm deep in biological tissues. This 1064‐AR‐PAM system was used for imaging sentinel lymph node and the lymph vessel in rat. Urinary bladder of rat filled with black ink was also imaged to validate the feasibility of the developed system to study deeply seated organs.      

窄等离子体吸收谱线宽度的纳米金锥用于光声成像

无损光声成像技术结合了纯光学成像高选择特性和纯超声成像中深穿透特性的优点,克服了光散射限制,实现了对活体深层组织的高分辨、高对比度成像。该成像技术对内源物质例如脱氧血红蛋白、含氧血红蛋白、黑色素、脂质等进行成像,提供了活体生物组织结构和功能信息,已经在生物医学领域表现出巨大的应用前景。然而,很多与病理过程相关的特征分子的光吸收能力较弱,在活体环境中难以被光声成像系统所识别,从而限制了光声成像技术的应用范围。基于功能纳米探针的光声成像-光声分子成像极大拓展光声成像的应用范围,可以在活体层面对病理过程进行分子水平的定性和定量研究,将为实现目标疾病的早期诊断提供强大的技术支持。本文发展在近红外具有窄吸收线宽(半高宽仅为60 nm)的纳米金锥作为新型的光声探针。通过选择不同径长比的纳米金锥,可以任意调节纳米金锥的吸收峰。通过调谐激光器的波长,可实现对不同吸收峰纳米金锥的选择性激发。纳米金锥将有可能用于多光谱光声成像,实现对不同靶标的目标分子探测。     

Live-Cell Superresolution Imaging by Pulsed STED Two-Photon Excitation Microscopy

Two-photon laser scanning microscopy (2PLSM) allows fluorescence imaging in thick biological samples where absorption and scattering typically degrade resolution and signal collection of one-photon imaging approaches. The spatial resolution of conventional 2PLSM is limited by diffraction, and the near-infrared wavelengths used for excitation in 2PLSM preclude the accurate imaging of many small subcellular compartments of neurons. Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy is a superresolution imaging modality that overcomes the resolution limit imposed by diffraction and allows fluorescence imaging of nanoscale features. Here, we describe the design and operation of a superresolution two-photon microscope using pulsed excitation and STED lasers. We examine the depth dependence of STED imaging in acute tissue slices and find enhancement of 2P resolution ranging from approximately fivefold at 20 μm to approximately twofold at 90-μm deep. The depth dependence of resolution is found to be consistent with the depth dependence of depletion efficiency, suggesting resolution is limited by STED laser propagation through turbid tissue. Finally, we achieve live imaging of dendritic spines with 60-nm resolution and demonstrate that our technique allows accurate quantification of neuronal morphology up to 30-μm deep in living brain tissue.     

Multi-scale molecular photoacoustic tomography of gene expression

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) is a molecular imaging technology. Unlike conventional reporter gene imaging, which is usually based on fluorescence, photoacoustic reporter gene imaging relies only on optical absorption. This work demonstrates several key merits of PAT using lacZ, one of the most widely used reporter genes in biology. We show that the expression of lacZ can be imaged by PAT as deep as 5.0 cm in biological tissue, with resolutions of ～1.0 mm and ～0.4 mm in the lateral and axial directions, respectively. We further demonstrate non-invasive, simultaneous imaging of a lacZ-expressing tumor and its surrounding microvasculature in vivo by dual-wavelength acoustic-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (AR-PAM), with a lateral resolution of 45 μm and an axial resolution of 15 μm. Finally, using optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM), we show intra-cellular localization of lacZ expression, with a lateral resolution of a fraction of a micron. These results suggest that PAT is a complementary tool to conventional optical fluorescence imaging of reporter genes for linking biological studies from the microscopic to the macroscopic scales.     

Spectral Fingerprinting of Individual Cells Visualized by Cavity-Reflection-Enhanced Light-Absorption Microscopy

The absorption spectrum of light is known to be a “molecular fingerprint” that enables analysis of the molecular type and its amount. It would be useful to measure the absorption spectrum in single cell in order to investigate the cellular status. However, cells are too thin for their absorption spectrum to be measured. In this study, we developed an optical-cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopic microscopy method for two-dimensional absorption imaging. The light absorption is enhanced by an optical cavity system, which allows the detection of the absorption spectrum with samples having an optical path length as small as 10 μm, at a subcellular spatial resolution. Principal component analysis of various types of cultured mammalian cells indicates absorption-based cellular diversity. Interestingly, this diversity is observed among not only different species but also identical cell types. Furthermore, this microscopy technique allows us to observe frozen sections of tissue samples without any staining and is capable of label-free biopsy. Thus, our microscopy method opens the door for imaging the absorption spectra of biological samples and thereby detecting the individuality of cells.     

Two‐photon focal modulation microscopy for high‐resolution imaging in deep tissue

Two‐photon microscopy (2PM) is one of the most widely used tools for in vivo deep tissue imaging. However, the spatial resolution and penetration depth are still limited due to the strong scattering background. Here we demonstrate a two‐photon focal modulation microscopy. By utilizing the modulation and demodulation techniques, background rejection capability is enhanced, thus spatial resolution and imaging penetration depth are improved. Compared with 2PM, the transverse resolution is increased by 70%, while the axial resolution is increased to 2‐fold. Furthermore, when applied in conventional 2PM mode, it can achieve inertial‐free scanning in either transverse or axial direction with in principle unlimited scanning speed. Finally, we applied 2PFMM in thick scattering samples to further examine the imaging performance. The results show that the signal‐to‐background ratio of 2PFMM can be improved up to five times of 2PM at the depth of 500 μm. Fluorescent imaging in the mouse brain tissue. 3D Thy1‐GFP hippocampal neurons imaged by (A) 2PM compared with (B) 2PFMM; (C‐H) xy maximum‐intensity projection imaged by 2PM compared with 2PFMM. Scale bar 50 μm.      

Multiphoton excitation provides optical sections from deeper within scattering specimens than confocal imaging.

Multiphoton excitation fluorescence imaging generates an optical section of sample by restricting fluorophore excitation to the plane of focus. High photon densities, achieved only in the focal volume of the objective, are sufficient to excite the fluorescent probe molecules by density-dependent, multiphoton excitation processes. We present comparisons of confocal with multiphoton excitation imaging of identical optical sections within a sample. These side-by-side comparisons of imaging modes demonstrate a significant advantage of multiphoton imaging; data can be obtained from deeper within biological specimens. Observations on a variety of biological samples showed that in all cases there was at least a twofold improvement in the imaging penetration depth obtained with multiphoton excitation relative to confocal imaging. The more pronounced degradation in image contrast deep within a confocally imaged sample is primarily due to scattered emission photons, which reduce the signal and increase the local background as measurements of point spread functions indicated that resolution does not significantly change with increasing depth for either mode of microscopy. Multiphoton imaging does not suffer from degradation of signal-to-background to nearly the same extent as confocal imaging because this method is insensitive to scatter of the emitted signal. Direct detection of emitted photons using an external photodetector mounted close to the objective (possible only in a multiphoton imaging system) improves system sensitivity and the utilization of scattered emission photons for imaging. We demonstrate that this technique provides yet further improvements in the capability of multiphoton excitation imaging to produce good quality images from deeper within tissue relative to confocal imaging.     

Photoacoustic imaging in cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment guidance

Imaging modalities play an important role in the clinical management of cancer, including screening, diagnosis, treatment planning and therapy monitoring. Owing to increased research efforts during the past two decades, photoacoustic imaging (a non-ionizing, noninvasive technique capable of visualizing optical absorption properties of tissue at reasonable depth, with the spatial resolution of ultrasound) has emerged. Ultrasound-guided photoacoustics is noted for its ability to provide in vivo morphological and functional information about the tumor within the surrounding tissue. With the recent advent of targeted contrast agents, photoacoustics is now also capable of in vivo molecular imaging, thus facilitating further molecular and cellular characterization of cancer. This review examines the role of photoacoustics and photoacoustic-augmented imaging techniques in comprehensive cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment guidance.     

膨胀显微成像技术的原理及应用

膨胀显微成像技术（expansion microscopy,ExM）是一种新型超分辨成像技术。该技术借助可膨胀水凝胶均匀地物理放大生物样本,在常规光学成像条件下实现超分辨成像。ExM适用于细胞、组织切片等多种类型生物样本。蛋白质、核酸、脂质等生物大分子均可借助ExM进行超分辨成像。ExM可与共聚焦显微镜、光片显微镜、超高分辨显微镜联合使用,进一步提高成像分辨率。近年来,多种从基础ExM拓展而来的衍生技术进一步促进了该技术的实际应用。本文综述了ExM及其衍生技术的基本原理、ExM与不同成像技术联用的研究进展及ExM在不同类型生物样本中的应用进展,并对ExM技术的发展前景做出展望。     

Label-free 3D visualization of cellular and tissue structures in intact muscle with second and third harmonic generation microscopy

Second and Third Harmonic Generation (SHG and THG) microscopy is based on optical effects which are induced by specific inherent physical properties of a specimen. As a multi-photon laser scanning approach which is not based on fluorescence it combines the advantages of a label-free technique with restriction of signal generation to the focal plane, thus allowing high resolution 3D reconstruction of image volumes without out-of-focus background several hundred micrometers deep into the tissue. While in mammalian soft tissues SHG is mostly restricted to collagen fibers and striated muscle myosin, THG is induced at a large variety of structures, since it is generated at interfaces such as refraction index changes within the focal volume of the excitation laser. Besides, colorants such as hemoglobin can cause resonance enhancement, leading to intense THG signals. We applied SHG and THG microscopy to murine (Mus musculus) muscles, an established model system for physiological research, to investigate their potential for label-free tissue imaging. In addition to collagen fibers and muscle fiber substructure, THG allowed us to visualize blood vessel walls and erythrocytes as well as white blood cells adhering to vessel walls, residing in or moving through the extravascular tissue. Moreover peripheral nerve fibers could be clearly identified. Structure down to the nuclear chromatin distribution was visualized in 3D and with more detail than obtainable by bright field microscopy. To our knowledge, most of these objects have not been visualized previously by THG or any label-free 3D approach. THG allows label-free microscopy with inherent optical sectioning and therefore may offer similar improvements compared to bright field microscopy as does confocal laser scanning microscopy compared to conventional fluorescence microscopy.     

Acoustic resolution photoacoustic microscopy based on microelectromechanical systems scanner

Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) can be classified as optical resolution (OR)‐PAM and acoustic resolution (AR)‐PAM depending on the type of resolution achieved. Using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) scanner, high‐speed OR‐PAM system was developed earlier. Depth of imaging limits the use of OR‐PAM technology for many preclinical and clinical imaging applications. Here, we demonstrate the use of a high‐speed MEMS scanner for AR‐PAM imaging. Lateral resolution of 84 μm and an axial resolution of 27 μm with ~2.7 mm imaging depth was achieved using a 50 MHz transducer‐based AR‐PAM system. Use of a higher frequency transducer at 75 MHz has further improved the resolution characteristics of the system with a reduction in imaging depth and a lateral resolution of 53 μm and an axial resolution of 18 μm with ~1.8 mm imaging depth was achieved. Using the two‐axis MEMS scanner a 2 × 2 .5 mm² area was imaged in 3 seconds. The capability of achieving acoustic resolution images using the MEMS scanner makes it beneficial for the development of high‐speed miniaturized systems for deeper tissue imaging.      

用蒙特卡罗方法模拟光在多层组织中的吸收特性

在讨论目前新颖的组织功能成像打骂能性（例如光声成像）时,光子在组织中的吸收和散射特性是一个很重要的问题,鉴于这一点,本文利用一个多层模型研究了光子在皮肤,脂肪和肌肉组织中的吸收和散射特性,得到了在组织中某一深度处光子在一个平面上的吸收分布,以及在不同吸收系数和散射系数的情况下,光子的反射,吸收和透射几率,结果表明在经过多次散射后,大部分的光子被吸收,在本文的模型中只有7.3%的光子从表面反射（包括镜面反射和漫反射）,还讨论了不同光学参灵敏对参流分布的影响。     

Tissue-simulating Phantoms for Assessing Potential Near-infrared Fluorescence Imaging Applications in Breast Cancer Surgery

Inaccuracies in intraoperative tumor localization and evaluation of surgical margin status result in suboptimal outcome of breast-conserving surgery (BCS). Optical imaging, in particular near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging, might reduce the frequency of positive surgical margins following BCS by providing the surgeon with a tool for pre- and intraoperative tumor localization in real-time. In the current study, the potential of NIRF-guided BCS is evaluated using tissue-simulating breast phantoms for reasons of standardization and training purposes.Breast phantoms with optical characteristics comparable to those of normal breast tissue were used to simulate breast conserving surgery. Tumor-simulating inclusions containing the fluorescent dye indocyanine green (ICG) were incorporated in the phantoms at predefined locations and imaged for pre- and intraoperative tumor localization, real-time NIRF-guided tumor resection, NIRF-guided evaluation on the extent of surgery, and postoperative assessment of surgical margins. A customized NIRF camera was used as a clinical prototype for imaging purposes.Breast phantoms containing tumor-simulating inclusions offer a simple, inexpensive, and versatile tool to simulate and evaluate intraoperative tumor imaging. The gelatinous phantoms have elastic properties similar to human tissue and can be cut using conventional surgical instruments. Moreover, the phantoms contain hemoglobin and intralipid for mimicking absorption and scattering of photons, respectively, creating uniform optical properties similar to human breast tissue. The main drawback of NIRF imaging is the limited penetration depth of photons when propagating through tissue, which hinders (noninvasive) imaging of deep-seated tumors with epi-illumination strategies.     

Phospholipid monolayer of plant lipid bodies attacked by phospholipase A2 shows 80 nm holes analyzed by atomic force microscopy

In plant storage tissue, lipid bodies are composed of triacylglycerides and surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer which is stabilized by oleosins. At the onset of lipid body mobilization, cells express phospholipase A2, which partially degrades the monolayer and thus provides access for the subsequently acting triacylglyceride degrading enzymes. Analyzing the lipid body surface by atomic force microscopy we show that, at the stage of maximal phospholipase A2 expression, the monolayer contains holes of approximately 80 nm in width and 2.45 +/- 0.46 nm in depth. Non-contact mode imaging was performed with a lateral resolution of approximately 10 nm and a vertical resolution of less than 0.1 nm. The depth of the holes corresponds to the width of the monolayer, while the width of the channels is sufficiently large to provide access to 100 kDa enzymes, such as lipoxygenase and lipases.     

Improvement of low-level light imaging performance using optical clearing method

Low-level light-emitting imaging technique often detects the light emerged at the tissue surface that is generated internally from a specific target. However, in most cases, the high scattering nature of biological tissue limits the sensitivity and spatial resolution of this imaging modality. In this paper, we report that a significant improvement of chemiluminescence (CL) imaging performance in terms of both sensitivity and spatial resolution can be achieved by use of the topical application of glycerol solution onto tissue sample, i.e. optical clearing approach. Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of internally-launched point source shows that the decrease of scattering coefficient of turbid medium, which can be achieved by optical tissue clearing approach, causes stronger peak intensity with a narrower full-width at half-maximum (FWHM). The improvement becomes more significant with the source depth increasing from 1 to 5 mm. The experimental results shows that tissue clearing with 50% glycerol solution could largely improve the brightness and the spatial resolution of CL imaging when the target is covered by biological tissue with a thickness of either 1 or 3mm. This method could have potential applications for the in vivo low-level light imaging techniques.     

Microscopic optical projection tomography in vivo

We describe a versatile optical projection tomography system for rapid three-dimensional imaging of microscopic specimens in vivo. Our tomographic setup eliminates the in xy and z strongly asymmetric resolution, resulting from optical sectioning in conventional confocal microscopy. It allows for robust, high resolution fluorescence as well as absorption imaging of live transparent invertebrate animals such as C. elegans. This system offers considerable advantages over currently available methods when imaging dynamic developmental processes and animal ageing; it permits monitoring of spatio-temporal gene expression and anatomical alterations with single-cell resolution, it utilizes both fluorescence and absorption as a source of contrast, and is easily adaptable for a range of small model organisms.     

Expansion microscopy: A chemical approach for super-resolution microscopy

Super-resolution microscopy is a series of imaging techniques that bypass the diffraction limit of resolution. Since the 1990s, optical approaches, such as single-molecular localization microscopy, have allowed us to visualize biological samples from the sub-organelle to the molecular level. Recently, a chemical approach called expansion microscopy emerged as a new trend in super-resolution microscopy. It physically enlarges cells and tissues, which leads to an increase in the effective resolution of any microscope by the length expansion factor. Compared with optical approaches, expansion microscopy has a lower cost and higher imaging depth but requires a more complex procedure. The integration of expansion microscopy and advanced microscopes significantly pushed forward the boundary of super-resolution microscopy. This review covers the current state of the art in expansion microscopy, including the latest methods and their applications, as well as challenges and opportunities for future research.     

Optical clearing for improved contrast in second harmonic generation imaging of skeletal muscle

Using second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging microscopy, we have examined the effect of optical clearing with glycerol to achieve greater penetration into specimens of skeletal muscle tissue. We find that treatment with 50% glycerol results in a 2.5-fold increase in achievable SHG imaging depth. Signal processing analyses using fast Fourier transform and continuous wavelet transforms show quantitatively that the periodicity of the sarcomere structure is unaltered by the clearing process and that image quality deep in the tissue is improved with clearing. Comparison of the SHG angular polarization dependence also shows no change in the supramolecular organization of acto-myosin complexes. By contrast, identical treatment of mouse tendon (collagen based) resulted in a strong decrease in SHG response. We suggest that the primary mechanism of optical clearing in muscle with glycerol treatment results from the reduction of cytoplasmic protein concentration and concomitant decrease in the secondary inner filter effect on the SHG signal. The lack of glycerol concentration dependence on the imaging depth indicates that refractive index matching plays only a minor role in the optical clearing of muscle. SHG and optical clearing may provide an ideal mechanism to study physiology in highly scattering skeletal or cardiac muscle tissue with significantly improved depth of penetration and achievable imaging depth.     

Localized IR spectroscopy of hemoglobin

IR absorption spectroscopy of hemoglobin was performed using an infrared (IR) optical parametric oscillator laser and a commercial atomic force microscope (AFM) in a novel experimental arrangement based on the use of a bottom-up excitation alignment. This experimental approach enables detection of protein samples with resolution much higher than that of standard IR spectroscopy. Presented here are AFM-based IR absorption spectra of micron-sized hemoglobin features.