Depth-resolved mid-infrared photothermal imaging of living cells and organisms with sub-micron spatial resolution
AssigneePurdue Research Foundation
InventorsDelong Zhang, Ji-Xin Cheng
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for sensing vibrational absorption induced photothermal effect via a visible light source. A Mid-infrared photothermal probe (MI-PTP, or MIP) approach achieves 10 mM detection sensitivity and sub-micron lateral spatial resolution. Such performance exceeds the diffraction limit of infrared microscopy and allows label-free three-dimensional chemical imaging of live cells and organisms. Distributions of endogenous lipid and exogenous drug inside single cells can be visualized. MIP imaging technology may enable applications from monitoring metabolic activities to high-resolution mapping of drug molecules in living systems, which are beyond the reach of current infrared microscopy.
Claims24
A system for microscopic analysis of a sample, comprising:
- a mid-IR (MIR) optical source that generates an infrared beam;
- an optical source that generates a probe beam;
- beam combining optics configured to combine the infrared beam and the probe beam as combined beams;
- a first optical element configured to focus the combined beams on to the sample, wherein the first optical element is a reflective objective;
- a second optical element to collect probe light from at least one of:
- the probe beam transmitted through the sample and the probe beam returning from the sample;
- a detector to detect the collected probe light;
- and
- a data acquisition and processing system configured to acquire and process the probe light from the detector to generate a signal indicative of MIR absorption by the sample.
A method for imaging infrared absorption of a sample, the method comprising:
- illuminating a region of the sample with a beam of mid-infrared (MIR) radiation that is focused on the sample with a first optical element, wherein the first optical element is a reflective objective;
- illuminating at least a portion of the MIR illuminated region with a probe light beam that is focused with the first optical element;
- collecting, with a second optical element, at least a portion of probe light that is transmitted through or returning from the sample;
- sending the probe light to a detector to detect the collected probe light;
- analyzing variation in the detected probe light to generate a signal indicative of MIR absorption of the sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.