Current optical microscope objectives of low magnification have low numerical aperture and therefore have too little depth resolution and discrimination to perform well in confocal and nonlinear microscopy. This is a serious limitation in important areas, including the phenotypic screening of human genes in transgenic mice by study of embryos undergoing advanced organogenesis. We have built an optical lens system for 3D imaging of objects up to 6 mm wide and 3 mm thick with depth resolution of only a few microns instead of the tens of microns currently attained, allowing sub-cellular detail to be resolved throughout the volume. We present this lens, called the Mesolens, with performance data and images from biological specimens including confocal images of whole fixed and intact fluorescently-stained 12.5-day old mouse embryos.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.18659.001

We report on a new class of enzyme responsive polymer hydrogels, the molecular accessibility of which can be changed selectively by enzymes present in a sample fluid.

GaN micro-light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) with monolithically integrated microlenses have been demonstrated. Microlenses, with a focal length of 44 µm and a root mean square roughness of ~1 nm, have been fabricated on the polished back surface of a sapphire substrate of an array of micro-LEDs by resist thermal reflow and plasma etching. The optical properties of the microlenses have been demonstrated to alter the emission pattern of the LED emitters. The cone of light emitted from this hybrid device is significantly less divergent than a conventional broad-area device. This combination of micro-LED and microlens technologies offers the potential for further improvement in the overall efficiency of GaN-based light emitters

The ability of microorganisms to grow as aggregated assemblages has been known for many years, however their structure has remained largely unexplored across multiple spatial scales. The development of the Mesolens, an optical system which uniquely allows simultaneous imaging of individual bacteria over a 36 mm2 field of view, has enabled the study of mature Escherichia coli macro-colony biofilm architecture like never before. The Mesolens enabled the discovery of intra-colony channels on the order of 10 μm in diameter, that are integral to E. coli macro-colony biofilms and form as an emergent property of biofilm growth. These channels have a characteristic structure and re-form after total mechanical disaggregation of the colony. We demonstrate that the channels are able to transport particles and play a role in the acquisition of and distribution of nutrients through the biofilm. These channels potentially offer a new route for the delivery of dispersal agents for antimicrobial drugs to biofilms, ultimately lowering their impact on public health and industry.

Abstract:We report the creation of white-light, achromatic Bessel beams using a spatial light modulator and a prism to compensate for the dispersion. Unlike the Bessel beam created by a refractive axicon, this achromatic beam has a radial wavevector and hence an intensity cross-section which is independent of wavelength. The technique also lends itself to the generation of higher order Bessel beams with an on-axis optical vortex and associated orbital angular momentum.