Dr. Duocastella from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italy), will give a talk showing how technological developments for fast axial focusing enable to rethink traditional microscopy architectures and achieve unprecedented 3D imaging rates for biological systems.
Optical microscopes are unrivaled when it comes to the noninvasive study of living organisms with subcellular resolution. However, they are largely optimized for two-dimensional (2D) imaging. While 3D microscopy is possible by the sequential acquisition of 2D images at different axial positions (z-stack), the long idle times required for focus repositioning to occur limit the overall volumetric acquisition speed. In this talk, I will show how technological developments for fast axial focusing enable to rethink traditional microscopy architectures and achieve unprecedented 3D imaging rates. I will provide two examples. First, I will discuss speed improvements in brain imaging using two-photon and confocal microscopy [1,2]. Second, I will present a novel light-sheet microscope that obviates any mechanical moving parts and is capable of characterizing moving organisms and flowing particles at several hundreds of volumes per second [3]. These results illustrate how z-focusing technologies are shaping the future of real-time volumetric imaging at the diffraction limit.
[1] S. Piazza, P. Bianchini, C. Sheppard, A. Diaspro, and M. Duocastella, “Enhanced volumetric imaging in 2-photon microscopy via acoustic lens beam shaping,” J. Biophotonics, 11 e201870129 (2018).
[2] M. Duocastella, G. Vicidomini, and A. Diaspro, “Simultaneous multiplane confocal microscopy using acoustic tunable lenses,” Opt. Express, 22 19293 (2014).
[3] M. Duocastella, G. Sancataldo, P. Saggau, P. Ramoino, P. Bianchini, and A. Diaspro, “Fast Inertia-Free Volumetric Light-Sheet Microscope,” ACS Photonics, 4 1797 (2017).
Biography: Dr. Duocastella is a researcher at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. His work focuses on the development of advanced optical methods for imaging and materials processing. Key examples of his work in these areas include the use of acoustically-driven optofluidic lenses for high-speed 3D imaging and particle tracking, laser induced forward transfer for printing multifunctional materials and micro-optical elements, as well as beam shaping for high-throughput/high-resolution laser processing. He has received several awards for his developments on acousto-optics systems, including the R&D 100 Award, the PRISM Award, the Siemens Innovation Award or the Laser Focus World-OSA Technology Innovation Award.