Opt Lett. 2024 Jul 15;49(14):4002-4005. doi: 10.1364/OL.528634.
We have experimentally validated the use of sensorless adaptive optics (AO) to enhance laser scanning confocal microscopy in the second near-infrared (NIR II) spectral range, termed as AO-NIR II confocal microscopy. This approach harnesses a NIR II fluorophore, excited by an 808 nm wavelength and emitting beyond 1000 nm, to visualize intricate structures in deep brain tissues with the intact skull. By leveraging the reduced scattering and aberrations in the NIR II spectrum, we successfully captured a three-dimensional (3D) vascular structure map extending 310 µm beneath the skull. AO typically boosts the fluorescence signal by approximately 2-3 times, leading to a superior contrast and diminished smearing effects. Consequently, small blood vessels at various depths can be clearly visualized, which might otherwise remain undetectable without AO corrections.
我们通过实验验证了无传感器自适应光学（AO）在近红外二区（NIR II）光谱范围内增强激光扫描共聚焦显微镜的应用，称之为 AO-NIR II 共聚焦显微镜。该方法利用近红外二区荧光染料，由 808nm 波长激发，发射波长超过 1000nm，在完整颅骨的情况下可视化深脑组织中的复杂结构。通过利用 NIR II 光谱中减少的散射和像差，我们成功地捕获了延伸到颅骨下 310μm 的三维（3D）血管结构图谱。AO 通常可以将荧光信号提高约 2-3 倍，从而提供更好的对比度和减少模糊效应。因此，可以清晰地观察到不同深度的小血管，否则在没有 AO 校正的情况下可能无法检测到这些血管。
