PLoS ONE (Apr 2011)

Microscopic optical projection tomography in vivo.

  • Matthias Rieckher,
  • Udo Jochen Birk,
  • Heiko Meyer,
  • Jorge Ripoll,
  • Nektarios Tavernarakis

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018963
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 4
p. e18963

Abstract

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We describe a versatile optical projection tomography system for rapid three-dimensional imaging of microscopic specimens in vivo. Our tomographic setup eliminates the in xy and z strongly asymmetric resolution, resulting from optical sectioning in conventional confocal microscopy. It allows for robust, high resolution fluorescence as well as absorption imaging of live transparent invertebrate animals such as C. elegans. This system offers considerable advantages over currently available methods when imaging dynamic developmental processes and animal ageing; it permits monitoring of spatio-temporal gene expression and anatomical alterations with single-cell resolution, it utilizes both fluorescence and absorption as a source of contrast, and is easily adaptable for a range of small model organisms.