Imaging cells and their activity in a living organ such as the brain or heart is important for biologists to understand how these organs function. By watching fluorescent light emitted by genetically modified cells, scientists can now get a better grasp on neurodegenerative diseases and the heart regeneration process in zebrafish, for example.

A major obstacle for imaging such processes, however, is scattering by the surrounding tissue. The light sheet microscope offers a solution by illuminating the tissue with a moveable sheet of light. However, the image quality still suffers at larger depths due to tissue aberrations in the imaging path. Here, Hubert and colleagues present a new, simpler adaptive optics approach to characterize and correct these aberrations, providing high-quality images without the need of any computational post-processing. Their new extended-source Shack-Hartmann (ESSH) sensor removes the need of guide stars used in traditional adaptive optics systems, allowing them to image large areas of any sample without added complexity. In this initial validation experiment, neuronal structures at 40 µm depth were imaged in a freshly dissected adult Drosophila brain, which demonstrates the potential of this technique for deep-tissue microscopy.

---

---

 Add Comment

You must log in to add comments.