Imagining the future of optical microscopy: everything, everywhere, all at once

Abstract

The optical microscope has revolutionized biology since at least the 17th Century. Since then, it has progressed from a largely observational tool to a powerful bioanalytical platform. However, realizing its full potential to study live specimens is hindered by a daunting array of technical challenges. Here, we delve into the current state of live imaging to explore the barriers that must be overcome and the possibilities that lie ahead. We venture to envision a future where we can visualize and study everything, everywhere, all at once – from the intricate inner workings of a single cell to the dynamic interplay across entire organisms, and a world where scientists could access the necessary microscopy technologies anywhere.

Innovating in a bioimaging core through instrument development

“…While different views exist on whether instrument development is part of the mandate of a core facility, it is certainly important to balance innovation via the building of new devices with other tasks in the CF. 6 Optical instrumentation development is one of the most challenging areas of innovation due to the required upfront financial (hardware) investment and while traditionally this has happened in research groups, CFs have played an important role in the birth or maturation of new instrumentation in recent years. In part, this can be easily understood from the perspective that CFs are in a strategic position in life science: working hand-in-hand with life scientists and being very well acquainted with the challenges that their samples pose to microscopy experiments, they evolve at the epicentre where new ideas in biology face the technical challenges and where potential solutions can be implemented.…”

Automated neuropil segmentation of fluorescent images for Drosophila brains

“…In this context, analyzing variations in brain structures across different individuals or the expression intensity of genes in various brain regions has become a crucial research direction 10–13 . Consequently, developing an automated and high-throughput method for this analysis has become particularly important 14–16 .…”

“…In this context, analyzing variations in brain structures across different individuals or the expression intensity of genes in various brain regions has become a crucial research direction [10][11][12][13] . Consequently, developing an automated and high-throughput method for this analysis has become particularly important [14][15][16] . Indeed, a number of studies have developed algorithms of brain region segmentation for CT and MRI images [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] .…”

Fiber optic-based integrated system for in vivo multiscale pharmacokinetic monitoring

“…To visualize drug-cell interactions, uptake, and intracellular distribution at cellular and subcellular levels, intravital microscopy or confocal microscopy can be used by offering high resolution. Nevertheless, limited light penetration and background interference from biological samples often restrict the applicability of fluorescence-based PK profiling to drugs mainly amenable to ex vivo analysis [ 7 ].…”