Label-free histological imaging of tissues using Brillouin light scattering contrast.
Seungmi RyuNicola MartinoSheldon J J KwokLiane BernsteinSeok-Hyun YunPublished in: Biomedical optics express (2021)
Brillouin light scattering offers a unique label-free approach to measure biomechanical properties non-invasively. While this technique is used in biomechanical analysis of cells and tissues, its potential for visualizing structural features of tissues based on the biomechanical contrast has not been much exploited. Here, we present high-resolution Brillouin microscopy images of four basic tissue types: muscular, connective, epithelial, and nervous tissues. The Brillouin contrast distinguishes between muscle fiber cells and endomysium in skeletal muscle and reveals chondrocytes along with spatially varying stiffness of the extracellular matrix in articular cartilage. The hydration-sensitive contrast can visualize the stratum corneum, epidermis, and dermis in the skin epithelium. In brain tissues, the Brillouin images show the mechanical heterogeneity across the cortex and deeper regions. This work demonstrates the versatility of using the Brillouin shift as histological contrast for examining intact tissue substructures via longitudinal modulus without the need for laborious tissue processing steps.
Keyphrases
- label free
- high resolution
- magnetic resonance
- extracellular matrix
- skeletal muscle
- gene expression
- induced apoptosis
- contrast enhanced
- cell cycle arrest
- deep learning
- type diabetes
- magnetic resonance imaging
- single cell
- cell death
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- mass spectrometry
- oxidative stress
- machine learning
- functional connectivity
- insulin resistance
- cell proliferation
- finite element
- signaling pathway
- metabolic syndrome
- pi k akt
- soft tissue
- living cells
- fluorescent probe