Quantifying dynamic kidney processes utilizing multi-photon microscopy.

Multi-photon microscopy and advances in optics, computer sciences, and the available labeling fluorophores now allow investigators to study the dynamic events within the functioning kidney with subcellular resolution. This emerging technology, with improved spatial and temporal resolution and sensitivity, enables investigators to follow complex heterogenous processes in organs such as the kidney. Repeated determinations within the same animal are possible minimizing their use and inter-animal variability.

Image processing software for 3D light microscopy.

Advances in microscopy now enable researchers to easily acquire multi-channel three-dimensional (3D) images and 3D time series (4D). However, processing, analyzing, and displaying this data can often be difficult and time- consuming. We discuss some of the software tools and techniques that are available to accomplish these tasks.

Intravital imaging of the kidney using multiparameter multiphoton microscopy.

Intravital optical microscopy provides a powerful means of studying the cell biology in the most physiologically relevant setting. The ability of multiphoton microscopy to collect optical sections deep into biological tissues has opened up the field of intravital microscopy to high-resolution studies of multiple organs. Presented here are examples of how two-photon microscopy can be applied to intravital studies of kidney physiology and the study of disease processes.

Voxx: a PC-based, near real-time volume rendering system for biological microscopy.

Confocal and two-photon fluorescence microscopy have advanced the exploration of complex, three-dimensional biological structures at submicron resolution. We have developed a voxel-based three-dimensional (3-D) imaging program (Voxx) capable of near real-time rendering that runs on inexpensive personal computers. This low-cost interactive 3-D imaging system provides a powerful tool for analyzing complex structures in cells and tissues and encourages a more thorough exploration of complex biological image data.