Precision vibratome for high-speed ultrathin biotissue cutting and organ-wide imaging
Yafeng Li,
Zhangheng Ding,
Lei Deng,
Guoqing Fan,
Qi Zhang,
Hui Gong,
Anan Li,
Jing Yuan,
Jianwei Chen
Affiliations
Yafeng Li
Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China; Innovation Institute, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
Zhangheng Ding
Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
Lei Deng
Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
Guoqing Fan
Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
Qi Zhang
Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
Hui Gong
Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China; HUST-Suzhou Institute for Brainsmatics, Suzhou 215125, China
Anan Li
Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China; HUST-Suzhou Institute for Brainsmatics, Suzhou 215125, China
Jing Yuan
Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China; HUST-Suzhou Institute for Brainsmatics, Suzhou 215125, China
Jianwei Chen
Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China; HUST-Suzhou Institute for Brainsmatics, Suzhou 215125, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Cutting tissues into ultrathin slices is highly desired in sectioning-based organ-wide imaging. However, it is difficult to perform tissue cutting at a high speed with excellent quality. Here, we design a precision vibratome based on a paired double parallelogram flexure, which enables a vibrating blade to move strictly along a straight line. Meanwhile, we develop a high-speed cutting method that does not compromise cutting quality, which the vibratome operated at a high frequency mode. The characterized parasitic motion errors of a 180-Hz vibratome were less than 300 nm. It achieved a cutting speed six times that of an 85-Hz vibratome with acceptable quality. The capacity of the vibratome was investigated by organ-wide imaging, and the results revealed that it can be adapted in different tissues, such as the mouse brain and liver. This new vibratome shows great potential in speeding up organ-wide imaging applications especially for large volume biotissues.
