One of the challenges in biological imaging is to visualise biological structures and living organisms in three dimensions and in depth. After developing a first light-sheet microscope, the SPIM (Selective Plane Illumination Microscope), the Restore imaging platform is acquiring a variant of this device, the macro-SPIM.
Just like its cousin, the SPIM, it allows for rapid, 3D and in-depth optical sectioning of a sample, whilst offering multi-view acquisition capabilities. Furthermore, unlike all the 3D imaging tools available on the market, image reconstructions obtained by light-sheet microscopy are free from any optical distortion. Conversely, unlike the SPIM, which is restricted to small samples (from a hundred micrometres to a millimetre), the macro-SPIM allows for acquisitions with large samples (on the scale of a centimetre), such as whole organs. Naturally, these organs must first undergo a «tissue clearing» treatment.
It was a collaboration with Restore that brought the need to light. Confocal microscopy was used at the time, but the very long acquisition times constituted a serious obstacle... which has now been overcome thanks to this new resource.
- Contact: Jacques Rouquette
- Direct booking
