Cover Image The pollinators of Camellia pubipetala: sunbird Aethopyga christinae (left) and honeybee Apis cerana (right). Both pictures were taken by Sheng-feng Chai, at Longhushan, Jiangxi Province, China.
Nuclear pore complex imaged at three different resolutions by confocal, expansion, and Ex‐STED microscopy, respectively. NUP become a ruler to measure the expansion process. Further details can be found in the article by Luca Pesce, Marco Cozzolino, Luca Lanzanò, Alberto Diaspro, and Paolo Bianchini ( e201900018 ).
CARS microscopy was employed to monitor the reorganization of intracellular lipids and proteins, as well as cellular transformations, after irradiation with near infrared (NIR) light. NIR light was shown to induce apoptosis in HeLa cells in vitro in a dose‐dependent manner. The progression of apoptosis assessed with CARS microscopy is apparently associated with the generation of reactive oxygen species followed by an excessive formation of lipid droplets and their peroxidation. Further details can be found in the article by Svitlana M. Levchenko, Andrey N. Kuzmin, Artem Pliss, et al. ( e201900179 )
Monitoring the blood‐brain barrier (BBB) permeability plays a key role in assessing drug release with high resolution. In this work, with the help of optical clearing skull window, we not only realized non‐invasive BBB opening by photodynamic therapy, but also developed a method based on spectral‐imaging to in vivo dynamically monitor the changes in BBB permeability. Further details can be found in the article by Wei Feng, Chao Zhang, Tingting Yu, et al. ( e201800330 ).
Raster Scanning Optoacoustic Mesoscopy (RSOM) is a novel optoacoustic imaging modality that offers non‐invasive, label‐free, high resolution (~7 µm axial, ~30 µm lateral) imaging up to 1–2 mm below the skin. This paper aims to provide quantitative estimation of specific imaging metrics, like total blood volume, vessel diameter, and melanin signal intensity for in vivo skin imaging of human subjects with Fitzpatrick (FP) skin types between II to V. Further details can be found in the article by Xiuting Li, Dinish U. S., Juan Aguirre, et al. ( e201800442 ).
The tremendous enhancement factors possessed by surfaceenhanced Raman scattering (SERS), coupled with the flexibility of photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), pave the way to a new generation of ultrasensitive biosensors. This review article aims to provide the latest advancement in SERS‐based PCF sensors for various biochemical applications. Such a sensitive biosensor could be translated for the detection of biomarkers in body fluids for early diagnosis of diseases. Further details can be found in the article by U. S Dinish, Flavien Beffara, Georges Humbert, Jean‐Louis Auguste, and Malini Olivo ( e201900027 ).
Photodynamic inactivation of prions by disulfonated hydroxyaluminum phthalocyanine. Further details can be found in the article by Marie Kostelanska, Jaroslav Freisleben, Zdenka Backovska Hanusova, et al. ( e201800430 ).
This schematic depicts the classification of multiphoton images with different degrees of HCC differentiation using the VGG‐16 neural network. The convolution layer is further trained based on the original weights. The weights of the fully connected layers are initialized as a random number and the training is restarted to improve its classification accuracy. Further details can be found in the article by Hongxin Lin, Chao Wei, Guangxing Wang, et al. ( e201800435 ).
The nuclei of epithelial cells in stratified squamous epithelia have been reported to be either low scattering or high scattering. Using micro‐optical coherence tomography, we demonstrate that the nuclei are ‘low scattering’ in the core; those previously reported ‘high‐scattering’ signals are likely from the nucleocytoplasmic boundary. Further details can be found in the article by Si Chen, Xinyu Liu, Nanshuo Wang, et al. ( e201900073 ).
Label‐free optical projection tomography technique makes it possible for quantitative whole mouse embryo imaging without any exogenous contrast agent. Further details can be found in the article by Sungbea Ban, Nam Hyun Cho, Eunjung Min, et al. ( e201800481 ).
Infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy is an emerging label‐free method for analyzing the degree of damage in cartilage samples. In the present study, sheep menisci have been characterized after meniscectomy via the variances of relevant biomolecules at the incision surface. Further details can be found in the article by Angela I. López‐Lorente et al. ( e201800429 ).
The forward elastic‐light‐scattering pattern of a bacterial colony reflects its morphological characteristics. Three bacteria genera whose colonies having convex, crateriform, or irregular elevation were investigated to study the correlation between the morphology and the scattering pattern of the colony. The difference in the colony elevation produced distinct shapes of light diffraction in the scattering pattern, resulting circular diffraction rings or scattered light. Further details can be found in the article by Iyll‐Joon Doh, Jennifer Sturgis, Diana V. Sarria Zuniga, et al. ( e201900149 ).
Spectra from microscopic tissue sections are strongly distorted by Mie‐type scattering and require correction by the ME‐EMSC algorithm. In the upper right, Mie extinction curves, which are simulated by the ME‐EMSC algorithm, are shown. Two measured spectra are shown in the foreground, a raw spectrum which contains Mie scattering, and the spectrum corrected by the ME‐EMSC algorithm. The cover figure was designed by Dr. Boris Zimmermann. Further details can be found in the article by Johanne H. Solheim, Evgeniy Gunko, Dennis Petersen, et al. ( e201800415 ).
A wearable device based on fiber optic biosensor for high‐precision radial pulse wave monitoring and diagnosis is proposed and demonstrated in this article. Owing to the high sensitivity of the tiny fiber tip with aluminum diaphragm assembled in the sportswristband, weak acoustic signal induced by arterial pulse can be high‐fidelity recovered and then quantitatively analyzed for clinical diagnosis, which is promising in early cardiovascular diseases indicating. Further details can be found in the article by Jingyi Wang, Kewei Liu, Qizhen Sun, et al. ( e201900084 ).
Top row is time‐lapse, multiphoton imaging of induced chondrogenesis from stem cells. The second row shows the time‐lapse second harmonic generation imaging of generated collagen. However, only the third row of second order susceptibility imaging allows the differentiation of the content of the two types of collagen (I and II) that were produced over time. The method allows the noninvasive and label‐free discrimination of different collagen species in real time and can be used for quality control in tissue engineering. Further details can be found in the article by Chiu‐Mei Hsueh, Hung‐Ming Lin, Te‐Yu Tseng, et al. ( e201800097 ).
To optimize the resection of gliomas during neurosurgery we present an imaging system capable of wide field fluorescence lifetime mapping with 11 mm field of view and 250 mm working distance. Based on a time of flight dual‐tap CMOS camera and a modulated laser at 405 nm we show unobserved quenching effects in tissue phantoms and demonstrate life‐time imaging on 5‐ALA labeled human ex vivo brain tumor samples. Further details can be found in the article by Mikael T. Erkkilä, Bianca Bauer, Nancy Hecker‐Denschlag, et al. ( e201800378 ).
A novel capsule optoacoustic endoscopy (COE) system is built which provides high‐quality 360‐degree images of the entire lumen, specifically designed for typical dimensions of human esophagus. The pill‐shaped encapsulated probe consists of a novel and highly sensitive ultrasound transducer fitted with an integrated miniature pre‐amplifier. For the first time, ex vivo volumetric vascular network images to a depth of 2 mm in swine esophageal lining using COE are demonstrated. Further details can be found in the article by Hailong He, Antonios Stylogiannis, Parastoo Afshari, et al. ( e201800439 )
The estimated life span of Halimeda from a new recruit to a fertile plant. See Mayakun and Prathep in this issue. Cover picture from: Article link here
There is a clinical need in the treatment of atrial fibrillation by radiofrequency ablation to provide lesion set validation. The integration of optical fibers into radiofrequency ablation catheters can address this issue. Thermally‐induced, dynamic changes in tissue diffuse reflectance are measured through transcatheter near‐infrared spectroscopy. A regression model based on spectral features is proposed and utilized to validate the presence of thermal injury, measure lesion depth, and assess gaps. Further details can be found in the article by Rajinder P. Singh‐Moon, Xinwen Yao, Vivek Iyer, et al. ( e201800144 ).
