This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: An international team of researchers led by UT Southwestern Medical Center has developed a versatile light-sheet microscope that captures 3D views of biological samples, from activity inside living cells to larger tissues. Designed to make detailed imaging much simpler and faster, the approach could help laboratories stretch equipment budgets and expand research that may ultimately inform patient care.
"Our work makes a popular microscope technique, called light-sheet fluorescence microscopy, more versatile and user-friendly," said corresponding author Reto Fiolka, Ph.D., associate professor in the Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics and of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern. "It extends what a single instrument can do in terms of sample coverage and imaging applications." Described in Nature Methods, the multi-immersion oblique plane microscope (miOPM) addresses a long-standing challenge: Advanced microscopes are often designed for a narrow range of tasks. Studying different samples can require separate instruments, specialized preparation and considerable technical expertise.
The new platform provides a practical blueprint for making sophisticated 3D imaging available to more researchers, helping more labs pursue questions that existing configurations may place beyond reach. The potential savings come from reducing the need for multiple dedicated systems and the work involved in reconfiguring them, although the study does not quantify financial savings. Fiolka led the study with co-first author Bingying Chen, Ph.D., a former instructor and postdoctoral researcher in the Fiolka Lab who is now a research specialist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus.
In addition to UTSW and other U.S. institutions, the team included researchers from Australia, Germany, Poland and the U.K. Traditional light-sheet microscopes are usually built like single-purpose tools. Some are optimized to zoom in on tiny structures inside a cell, requiring oil on the lens (i.e., an oil immersion objective).
Others are designed to look at larger tissues or organoids, requiring water or special fluids. Some need to scan quickly across hundreds of sample dishes without touching them, requiring air between the lens and sample. Switching between these jobs requires labs to buy and maintain multiple expensive microscopes.
The miOPM allows researchers to switch objective lenses on a single microscope designed for use with oil, water or air, adapting it for various experiments without needing different equipment. An adjustable zoom lens helps preserve image quality when scientists change the liquid surrounding a sample. Together, these features let one system handle a broader range of studies without rebuilding its internal optics.
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