MULTIPHOTON MICROSCOPY: Turnkey femtosecond lasers fuel growth of multiphoton imaging

摘要

Continuous innovation in ultrafast laser sources has enabled novel multiphoton modalities that can image living cells at greater penetration depths and lower phototoxicity than alternative methods. Since the first report of two-photon excited laser scanning fluorescence microscopy in 1990, the use of multiphoton imaging in biomedical research has seen tremendous growth, fueled by the advent of all-solid-state ultrafast lasers. Compared to conventional confocal microscopy, multiphoton imaging methods offer deeper tissue penetration, less cell damage, and inherent three-dimensional (3D) optical sectioning. Multiphoton microscopy is used in many fields of biomedical research, where the capability to image deeply, in vivo, and with higher sensitivity is of particular interest.