Design and Realization of a Dual Function OCM/MPM for Imaging TEMPs

Regenerative medicine is an emerging, interdisciplinary field that will result in new engineered medical products. The introduction of a high-resolution, non-destructive imaging technique that is capable of penetrating deeply into the highly-scattering scaffold medium has the means to accelerate the development and commercial utilization of these novel materials. Multi-photon microscopy (MPM) is based on the detection of the fluorescence emitted by endogenous or exogenous markers. Optical coherence microscopy (OCM) delivers information on the sample's scattering properties. These modalities provide different imaging contrast mechanisms. It is highly desirable to combine both imaging functions into a single instrument. We propose to design and construct a dual function OCM/MPM platform based on expertise developed building a similar system for a biophysics research program at the University of Illinois. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The unique configuration of the proposed setup, and the opportunity to obtain both anatomical and functional imaging information will make the combined microscope a very useful and attractive imaging tool that could be widely exploited by the scientific community. Particular useful applications can be found in the field of tissue engineering. Other possibilities exist in the field of plant biology to study for example the localization and interaction of different proteins attached to fluorescent proteins in different plants in relation to their development. The combined microscope would also be of potential interest to major microscope vendors that already market two photon microscopes.