Multicore-fiber microendoscopy for functional cellular in-organ imaging

Abstract

Microendoscopy enables minimally invasive investigations of organs even within small cavities. Conventional microendoscopy is limited by probe size and often restricted to a single excitation wavelength. We developed and characterized a multichannel microendoscope as thin as 360 μm and recorded functional cellular signals in-situ using custom written software for image processing. The endoscope had an effective resolution of 4.64 μm and resolved subcellular structures of neurons. The system enabled analysis of in-situ calcium responses in murine tracheal brush cells and kidney podocytes. Additionally, ratiometric redox responses were recorded in whole, explanted organs and pancreatic islet culture. The flexibility and simplicity of our approach for imaging a variety of tissues and organs paves the way for in-vivo, longitudinal studies with cellular resolution.

High-speed optical imaging with sCMOS pixel reassignment

“…In this study, we utilized image reformatting with flexible fiber optic pixel reassignment to take advantage of the rapid line readout capability inherent in sCMOS sensors. Despite their wide-ranging applications in imaging and sensing, such as endoscopy and spectroscopy, among others [87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100] , fiber optic relays have not previously been harnessed to exploit this feature. Thus, sHAPR presents users with the opportunity to enhance imaging speed while having the flexibility to rearrange pixels to achieve the most suitable FOV for their application.…”