Bevilacqua Carlo, Prevedel Robert
Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany.
Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany.
Nat Photonics. 2025;19(5):494-501. doi: 10.1038/s41566-025-01619-y. Epub 2025 Feb 20.
Brillouin microscopy is an emerging optical elastography technique that can be used to assess mechanical properties of biological samples in a three-dimensional, all-optical and hence non-contact fashion. However, the low cross-section of spontaneous Brillouin scattering produces weak signals that often necessitate prolonged exposure times or illumination dosages that are potentially harmful for biological samples. Here we present a new approach for highly multiplexed and therefore rapid spectral acquisition of the Brillouin-scattered light. Specifically, by exploiting a custom-built Fourier-transform imaging spectrometer and the symmetric properties of the Brillouin spectrum, we experimentally demonstrate full-field 2D spectral Brillouin imaging of phantoms as well as biological samples, at a throughput of up to 40,000 spectra per second, with a precision of ~70 MHz and an effective 2D image acquisition speed of 0.1 Hz over a ~300 × 300 µm field of view. This represents an approximately three-orders-of-magnitude improvement in speed and throughput compared with standard confocal methods, while retaining high spatial resolution and the capability to acquire three-dimensional images of photosensitive samples in biology and medicine.
布里渊显微镜是一种新兴的光学弹性成像技术，可用于以三维、全光学且因此非接触的方式评估生物样品的力学性能。然而，自发布里渊散射的低截面会产生微弱信号，这通常需要延长曝光时间或增加照明剂量，而这可能会对生物样品造成潜在危害。在此，我们提出了一种用于高度复用并因此快速采集布里渊散射光光谱的新方法。具体而言，通过利用定制的傅里叶变换成像光谱仪和布里渊光谱的对称特性，我们通过实验展示了对体模以及生物样品的全场二维光谱布里渊成像，每秒可采集多达40,000个光谱，精度约为70 MHz，在约300×300 µm的视场内有效二维图像采集速度为0.1 Hz。与标准共聚焦方法相比，这在速度和通量方面提高了约三个数量级，同时保持了高空间分辨率以及获取生物医学中光敏样品三维图像的能力。
