24-Sep-2025
Computational adaptive optics powers long-term 3D dual-modal live-cell imaging
Smart Computational Imaging Laboratory (SCILab), Nanjing University of Science and TechnologyPeer-Reviewed Publication
Microscopy is a vital tool for exploring the mysteries of life, enabling scientists to observe the dynamic changes of cells and organelles across spatial and temporal scales. However, because cells are primarily composed of water and exhibit low refractive-index contrast, it remains challenging to clearly visualize their internal structures. In recent years, Intensity Diffraction Tomography (IDT), an emerging label-free 3D imaging technique, has attracted increasing attention. Instead of relying on fluorescent dyes, IDT directly exploits the intrinsic refractive-index distribution of cells for imaging, thereby avoiding phototoxicity and photobleaching and making it particularly suitable for long-term live-cell observation. When combined with 3D fluorescence microscopy, this dual-modal approach can simultaneously provide molecular specificity and global structural information, offering a powerful tool for deciphering cellular components and their interactions. Nevertheless, long-term imaging (from several hours to days) is often hindered by the optical complexity of cells, environmental thermal drift, and mechanical instabilities of the microscope, which lead to time-varying aberrations and focal drift. Achieving stable, high-quality tracking of subcellular structures over extended periods therefore remains a key challenge.
- Journal
- Laser & Photonics Review