Label-free and non-destructive histology of unprocessed biological tissues with ultraviolet single-plane illumination microscopy
Yan Zhang,
Bingxin Huang,
Weixing Dai,
Lei Kang,
Victor T. C. Tsang,
Jiajie Wu,
Claudia T. K. Lo,
Terence T. W. Wong
Affiliations
Yan Zhang
Translational and Advanced Bioimaging Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Bingxin Huang
Translational and Advanced Bioimaging Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Weixing Dai
Translational and Advanced Bioimaging Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Lei Kang
Translational and Advanced Bioimaging Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Victor T. C. Tsang
Translational and Advanced Bioimaging Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Jiajie Wu
Translational and Advanced Bioimaging Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Claudia T. K. Lo
Translational and Advanced Bioimaging Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Terence T. W. Wong
Translational and Advanced Bioimaging Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Histopathology has remained the gold standard for surgical margin assessment for decades. However, routine pathological examination based on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues is laborious and time-consuming, failing to guide surgeons intraoperatively. Here, we propose a rapid, label-free, and non-destructive histological imaging method, termed microscopy with ultraviolet single-plane illumination (MUSI). With intrinsic fluorescence from deep ultraviolet excitation, MUSI enables both ex vivo and in vivo imaging of fresh and unprocessed tissues at the subcellular level with an imaging speed of 0.5 mm2/s, generating high-quality optically sectioned surface images from irregular surgical tissues with a long depth-of-field. We demonstrate that MUSI could differentiate between different subtypes of human lung adenocarcinomas (e.g., lepidic, acinar, papillary, and micropapillary), revealing diagnostically important features that are comparable to the gold standard FFPE histology. As an assistive imaging platform, MUSI can provide immediate feedback to surgeons and pathologists for intraoperative decision-making, holding great promise to revolutionize the current clinical practice in surgical pathology.
