In Vivo Label-free Confocal Imaging of Adult Mouse Brain Up to 1.3-mm Depth with NIR-Ⅱ Illumination

摘要

We combined NIR-Ⅱ illumination at ～1.7 μm with reflectance confocal microscopy and achieved an imaging depth of～1.3 mm with high spatial resolution in adult mouse brain in vivo, which is 3-4 times deeper than that of conventionalconfocal microscopy using visible wavelength. We showed that the method can be added as an additional channel to anylaser-scanning microscope with low-cost sources and detectors, such as continuous-wave (CW) diode lasers and InGaAsphotodiodes. The technique is label-free, simple and requires low illumination power, potentially creating newopportunities for deep tissue imaging in various biological and clinical applications.