MRI: Development of a hybrid quantitative phase microscope for live cell imaging

1039562蜡本研究的目标是开发一种新型的定量相位显微镜，用于研究和分析由于环境影响和疾病病理引起的细胞结构和功能变化。为了实现这一目标，提出了一种混合光学干涉成像和传感系统，将能够可视化快速细胞动力学的低相干宽场数字干涉测量（WFDI）与使用等离子体纳米颗粒（NP）的光热加热来实现分子成像的新型光学相干断层扫描（OCT）方法相结合。 低相干WFDI系统的作用是可视化细胞动力学，以评估由于外部影响而引起的细胞功能调节。该透射模式系统将定量地记录已经透射通过样品的光的光路延迟，并且因此将创建局部折射率变化的定量相位图像。该信息可用于表征动态细胞现象，以及解释细胞内物质的运输，其可表征各种类型的疾病。OCT系统将用于检测分子种类，如细胞表面受体以及细胞内蛋白质的位置和密度。金纳米颗粒，功能化结合到特定的分子，将选择性地加热使用光热方法，与激发调谐到NP等离子体共振波长，使分子选择性传感OCT。混合系统预计将允许广泛的研究细胞动力学，而两个子系统（WFDI和OCT）的组合将使得能够研究由于疾病的发作和进展而引起的动态行为的调节。

1039562WaxThe goal of this research is to develop a novel quantitative phase microscope for investigating and analyzing changes in cellular structure and function due to environmental influences and pathology due to disease. To achieve this goal, a hybrid optical interferometric imaging and sensing system is proposed, combining low-coherence wide-field digital interferometry (WFDI), capable of visualizing fast cellular dynamics, with a novel optical coherence tomography (OCT) approach that uses photothermal heating of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) to achieve molecular imaging. The role of the low-coherence WFDI system is to visualize cell dynamics in order to assess modulation of cell function due to external influences. This transmission-mode system will quantitatively record optical path delays of light that has been transmitted through the sample, and thus will create quantitative phase images of local refractive index changes. This information can be used to characterize dynamic cell phenomena, as well as to account for transport of intracellular materials, which can characterize various types of disease. The OCT system will be used to detect molecular species such as cell surface receptors and the location and density of intracellular proteins. Gold NPs, functionalized to bind to specific molecules, will be heated selectively using the photothermal method, with excitation tuned to the NP plasmon resonance wavelength, to enable molecularly selective sensing by OCT. The hybrid system is expected to allow a wide range of studies of cellular dynamics, while the combination of the two sub-systems (WFDI and OCT) will enable investigation of modulation of dynamic behaviors due to onset and progression of disease.