Multiphoton microscopy of cleared mouse organs.

Typical imaging depths with multiphoton microscopy (MPM) are limited to less than 300 mum in many tissues due to light scattering. Optical clearing significantly reduces light scattering by replacing water in the organ tissue with a fluid having a similar index of refraction to that of proteins. We demonstrate MPM of intact, fixed, cleared mouse organs with penetration depths and fields of view in excess of 2 mm. MPM enables the creation of large 3-D data sets with flexibility in pixel format and ready access to intrinsic fluorescence and second-harmonic generation. We present high-resolution images and 3-D image stacks of the brain, small intestine, large intestine, kidney, lung, and testicle with image sizes as large as 4,096 x 4,096 pixels.