Dataset Information

Fast imaging of live organisms with sculpted light sheets.

ABSTRACT: Light-sheet microscopy is an increasingly popular technique in the life sciences due to its fast 3D imaging capability of fluorescent samples with low photo toxicity compared to confocal methods. In this work we present a new, fast, flexible and simple to implement method to optimize the illumination light-sheet to the requirement at hand. A telescope composed of two electrically tuneable lenses enables us to define thickness and position of the light-sheet independently but accurately within milliseconds, and therefore optimize image quality of the features of interest interactively. We demonstrated the practical benefit of this technique by 1) assembling large field of views from tiled single exposure each with individually optimized illumination settings; 2) sculpting the light-sheet to trace complex sample shapes within single exposures. This technique proved compatible with confocal line scanning detection, further improving image contrast and resolution. Finally, we determined the effect of light-sheet optimization in the context of scattering tissue, devising procedures for balancing image quality, field of view and acquisition speed.

SUBMITTER: Chmielewski AK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4403519 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Fast imaging of live organisms with sculpted light sheets.

Chmielewski Aleksander K AK Kyrsting Anders A Mahou Pierre P Wayland Matthew T MT Muresan Leila L Evers Jan Felix JF Kaminski Clemens F CF

Scientific reports 20150420

Light-sheet microscopy is an increasingly popular technique in the life sciences due to its fast 3D imaging capability of fluorescent samples with low photo toxicity compared to confocal methods. In this work we present a new, fast, flexible and simple to implement method to optimize the illumination light-sheet to the requirement at hand. A telescope composed of two electrically tuneable lenses enables us to define thickness and position of the light-sheet independently but accurately within mi ...[more]

PMID: 25893952

Similar Datasets

Project description:Live observation of biological phenomena in the context of living organisms can provide important insights in the mechanisms of these phenomena. However, the spatially complex and dynamic physiology of multicellular organisms can be a challenging environment to make observations with fluorescence microscopy. Due to the illumination of out-of-focus planes, confocal and particularly widefield fluorescence microscopy suffer from low signal-to-background ratio (SBR), photo toxicity and bleaching of fluorescent probes. In light-sheet microscopy (LSM), solely the focal plane of the detection objective is illuminated, minimising out-of-focus fluorescence and photobleaching, thereby enhancing SBR, allowing for low laser intensities and longer acquisition periods. Here we present a straightforward light-sheet microscope with a 1.0-NA detection objective and a fast sample-positioning stage that allows for four degrees of freedom. By imaging the sensory cilia and nervous system of living young adult C. elegans, we demonstrate that the instrument is well suited for relatively fast, volumetric imaging of larger (hundreds of micrometres cubed) living samples. These experiments demonstrate that such an instrument provides a valuable addition to commonly used widefield and confocal fluorescence microscopes. LAY DESCRIPTION: In fluorescence microscopy, sharp images can only be obtained when the light obtained from the section of the image that is in focus is not overwhelmed by light emerging from elsewhere. In this paper, we present a light-sheet fluorescence microscope, based on the OpenSPIM initiative, with a magnification of 90× and a sensitive sample positioning stage that allows for fast controlled linear movement and rotation. In a light-sheet microscope (LSM), the sample is illuminated from the side, compared to the direction of detection, limiting illumination only to the part of the sample that is imaged in the focal plane (general resources: Wikipedia or MicroscopyU). This does not only limit background noise, but also reduces damage to the sample due to phototoxicity. This makes a LSM particularly suitable for imaging living samples at high resolution, in three dimensions, over long periods of time. Our instrument was specifically designed for imaging adult C. elegans nematodes. We show here how the instrument compares to a standard epifluorescence microscope, imaging neuronal structures in the animals. The instrument proved well suited for fast volumetric imaging of larger cellular structures such as C. elegans neuronal cell bodies. Our experiments show that the instrument provides a valuable addition to widefield and confocal fluorescence microscopes commonly used to image adult C. elegans.

Dataset Information

Fast imaging of live organisms with sculpted light sheets.

Publications

Fast imaging of live organisms with sculpted light sheets.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets