13TSB_TIBio: Enabling Technologies for Advanced Multiphoton Microscopy

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A major challenge in fundamental biological research and the development of biotechnology is to measure heterogeneity in chemical composition at the cellular and subcellular scale in living cells and tissues. Gaining the ability to visualise the distribution of compounds at this scale would represent a major advancement. The current standard in biological imaging, fluorescence microscopy, provides chemically specific image contrast by molecularly targeted probes. However, these probes are too bulky for labelling small molecules such as lipids, carbohydrates, metabolites and many drugs that play essential roles in the function of living cells and tissues. Coherent Raman scattering (CRS) microscopy has emerged as powerful tool to generate signals from vibrational spectroscopy to provide label-free mapping of biomolecules in real-time. However, due to the specialised laser requirements, this technique is currently confined to a handful of specialised laboratories with the resources and expertise to operate such laser systems. This project aims to develop a simple, compact module that will upgrade pulsed lasers currently used in biological microscopes to provide wider access to CRS imaging.