TL;DR: In this article, a selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) was developed to generate multidimensional images of samples up to a few millimeters in size, which can be applied to visualize the embryogenesis of the relatively opaque Drosophila melanogaster in vivo.
Abstract: Large, living biological specimens present challenges to existing optical imaging techniques because of their absorptive and scattering properties. We developed selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) to generate multidimensional images of samples up to a few millimeters in size. The system combines two-dimensional illumination with orthogonal camera-based detection to achieve high-resolution, optically sectioned imaging throughout the sample, with minimal photodamage and at speeds capable of capturing transient biological phenomena. We used SPIM to visualize all muscles in vivo in the transgenic Medaka line Arnie, which expresses green fluorescent protein in muscle tissue. We also demonstrate that SPIM can be applied to visualize the embryogenesis of the relatively opaque Drosophila melanogaster in vivo.
TL;DR: This work describes how spatially structured illumination microscopy can be applied in three dimensions to double the axial as well as the lateral resolution, with true optical sectioning, and has produced the first light microscopy images of the synaptonemal complex in which the lateral elements are clearly resolved.
TL;DR: This work has developed a microscopy technique that uses optical projection tomography (OPT) to produce high-resolution 3D images of both fluorescent and nonfluorescent biological specimens with a thickness of up to 15 millimeters.
Abstract: Current techniques for three-dimensional (3D) optical microscopy (deconvolution, confocal microscopy, and optical coherence tomography) generate 3D data by "optically sectioning" the specimen. This places severe constraints on the maximum thickness of a specimen that can be imaged. We have developed a microscopy technique that uses optical projection tomography (OPT) to produce high-resolution 3D images of both fluorescent and nonfluorescent biological specimens with a thickness of up to 15 millimeters. OPT microscopy allows the rapid mapping of the tissue distribution of RNA and protein expression in intact embryos or organ systems and can therefore be instrumental in studies of developmental biology or gene function.
TL;DR: A simple method of obtaining optical sectioning in a conventional wide-field microscope by projecting a single-spatial-frequency grid pattern onto the object and processing images that are substantially similar to those obtained with confocal microscopes is described.
Abstract: We describe a simple method of obtaining optical sectioning in a conventional wide-field microscope by projecting a single-spatial-frequency grid pattern onto the object. Images taken at three spatial positions of the grid are processed in real time to produce optically sectioned images that are substantially similar to those obtained with confocal microscopes.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors described the measured nonlinear excitation spectra and their photophysical characteristics that empower nonlinear laser microscopy for biological imaging and described their optical sectioning capability.
Abstract: Intrinsic, three-dimensionally resolved, microscopic imaging of dynamical structures and biochemical processes in living preparations has been realized by nonlinear laser scanning fluorescence microscopy. The search for useful two-photon and three-photon excitation spectra, motivated by the emergence of nonlinear microscopy as a powerful biophysical instrument, has now discovered a virtual artist's palette of chemical indicators, fluorescent markers, and native biological fluorophores, including NADH, flavins, and green fluorescent proteins, that are applicable to living biological preparations. More than 25 two-photon excitation spectra of ultraviolet and visible absorbing molecules reveal useful cross sections, some conveniently blue-shifted, for near-infrared absorption. Measurements of three-photon fluorophore excitation spectra now define alternative windows at relatively benign wavelengths to excite deeper ultraviolet fluorophores. The inherent optical sectioning capability of nonlinear excitation provides three-dimensional resolution for imaging and avoids out-of-focus background and photodamage. Here, the measured nonlinear excitation spectra and their photophysical characteristics that empower nonlinear laser microscopy for biological imaging are described.