Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering microscopy for non-invasive
imaging of living cells
Optical microscopy is an indispensable tool for cell biology. Different
microscopy methods are currently available and continuous effort is
devoted to develop new techniques with improved sensitivity,
selectivity and/or spatial resolution. An important issue in recent
microscopy is the ability to perform non-invasive studies, i.e.
avoiding the need for fluorescent probes that are prone to photo
bleaching and can perturb the cell functions. The research
plan is to develop a new generation of laser-scanning multiphoton
microscope based on Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS, see
figure below) with improved sensitivity and chemical specificity for
real-time studies on living cells. Such an instrument will allow
non-invasive microscopic examination of cells and subcellular
structures under physiological conditions without the need to stain or
express tagged proteins.
Paola Borri aligning the
microscope setup (05/2007)
Israel Rocha-Mendoza, Wolfgang
Langbein and Paola Borri and the CARS Microscope setup (05/2007)
