Simultaneous BOLD fMRI and fiber-optic calcium recording in rat neocortex.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) based on blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) contrast is widely used for probing brain activity, but its relationship to underlying neural activity remains elusive. Here, we combined fMRI with fiber-optic recordings of fluorescent calcium indicator signals to investigate this relationship in rat somatosensory cortex. Electrical forepaw stimulation (1-10 Hz) evoked fast calcium signals of neuronal origin that showed frequency-dependent adaptation.

Miniaturized selective plane illumination microscopy for high-contrast in vivo fluorescence imaging.

Light-sheet-based fluorescence imaging techniques rely on simultaneous excitation of a single optical plane and thus permit high-contrast optically sectioned imaging of extended tissue samples. Here, we introduce a miniaturized fiber-optic implementation of a selective plane-illumination microscope (miniSPIM). The excitation light was delivered through a single-mode optical fiber, and a light-sheet was created with a cylindrical gradient-index lens and a right-angle microprism.

Scanning fiber endoscopy with highly flexible, 1 mm catheterscopes for wide-field, full-color imaging.

In modern endoscopy, wide field of view and full color are considered necessary for navigating inside the body, inspecting tissue for disease and guiding interventions such as biopsy or surgery. Current flexible endoscope technologies suffer from reduced resolution when device diameter shrinks. Endoscopic procedures today, using coherent fiber-bundle technology on the scale of 1 mm, are performed with such poor image quality that the clinician's vision meets the criteria for legal blindness.

Scale-up from microtiter plate to laboratory fermenter: evaluation by online monitoring techniques of growth and protein expression in Escherichia coli and Hansenula polymorpha fermentations.

Background: In the past decade, an enormous number of new bioprocesses have evolved in the biotechnology industry. These bioprocesses have to be developed fast and at a maximum productivity. Up to now, only few microbioreactors were developed to fulfill these demands and to facilitate sample processing.

Enhanced fluorescence signal in nonlinear microscopy through supplementary fiber-optic light collection.

Nonlinear microscopy techniques crucially rely on efficient signal detection. Here, we present a ring of large-core optical fibers for epi-collection of fluorescence photons that are not transmitted through the objective and thus normally wasted. Theoretical treatments indicated that such a supplementary fiber-optic light collection system (SUFICS) can provide an up to 4-fold signal gain.

Ultra-compact fiber-optic two-photon microscope for functional fluorescence imaging in vivo.

We present a small, lightweight two-photon fiberscope and demonstrate its suitability for functional imaging in the intact brain. Our device consists of a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber for efficient delivery of near-IR femtosecond laser pulses, a spiral fiber-scanner for resonant beam steering, and a gradient-index lens system for fluorescence excitation, dichroic beam splitting, and signal collection. Fluorescence light is remotely detected using a standard photomultiplier tube.

Three-dimensional laser microsurgery in light-sheet based microscopy (SPIM).

Advances in the life sciences rely on the ability to observe dynamic processes in live systems and in environments that mimic in-vivo situations. Therefore, new methodological developments have to provide environments that resemble physiologically and clinically relevant conditions as closely as possible. In this work, plasma-induced laser nanosurgery for three-dimensional sample manipulation and sample perturbation is combined with optically sectioning light-sheet based fluorescence microscopy (SPIM) and applied to three-dimensional biological model systems.

Resolution enhancement in a light-sheet-based microscope (SPIM).

Light-sheet-based microscopy [single-plane illumination microscope (SPIM)] performs very well at low numerical apertures. It complements conventional (FM), confocal (CFM), and two-photon fluorescence microscopy (2hnu-FM) currently used in modern life sciences. Lateral and axial SPIM point spread function (PSF) extents are measured by using fluorescent beads to determine the 3D resolution.