LIGHT PROFILE MICROSCOPY APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR THE THREE DIMENSIONAL IMAGING OF CELLULAR SAMPLES

摘要

The invention comprises a light profile microscopy (LPM) apparatus and methodused for thedirect three dimensional micron scale imaging of single biological cells orcellular arrays. Aslice volume is illuminated in a cellular sample using a planar sheet ofoptical radiation ofmicron scale thickness. A microscope records a full field image of the lateraldimensions of thecellular slice volume with optical contrast from mechanisms that emit orscatter light from thecellular slice volume, including luminescence, Raman scattering and multi-photon processes.Imaging occurs with effective refractive index matching to an immersionobjective, and imagefocus is independently confirmed by a registration beam system. A series ofaxially distributedslice volume images is recorded, de-convoluted and assembled into a tomogramof the cellularobject. This method provides two orders of magnitude shorter image acquisitiontimes over theprior art with a lower photon dosage per image element.