Integrative microendoscopic system combined with conventional microscope for live animal tissue imaging.

Intravital optical imaging technology is essential for minimally invasive optical diagnosis and treatment in small animal disease models. High-resolution imaging requires high-resolution optical probes, and high-resolution optical imaging systems based on highly precise and advanced technologies and therefore, associated with high-system costs. Besides, in order to acquire small animal live images, special types of animal imaging setups are indispensable. In this paper, a microendoscopic system is designed as an add-on to existing conventional imaging microscopes, reducing the price of complete confocal endomicroscopic systems. The proposed attachable system can be configured for confocal microscopes from common manufacturers and this enables users to acquire live animal cellular images from a conventional system. It features a 4f optical plane relay system, a rotary stage for side-view endoscopic probes, and an endoscopic probe mount which swings between the horizontal and the vertical. The system could be widely useful for biological studies of animal physiology and disease models.

[1]  A. Gadducci,et al.  Treatment options in recurrent cervical cancer (Review). , 2010, Oncology letters.

[2]  Qifa Zhou,et al.  Non-contact acoustic radiation force impulse microscopy via photoacoustic detection for probing breast cancer cell mechanics. , 2015, Biomedical optics express.

[3]  Kung-Bin Sung,et al.  Fiber optic confocal reflectance microscopy: a new real-time technique to view nuclear morphology in cervical squamous epithelium in vivo. , 2003, Optics express.

[4]  C. Bakal,et al.  Inferring signalling networks from images , 2013, Journal of microscopy.

[5]  Marjan Slak Rupnik,et al.  Structural similarities and differences between the human and the mouse pancreas , 2015, Islets.

[6]  B Messerschmidt,et al.  Endoscope-compatible confocal microscope using a gradient index-lens system , 2001 .

[7]  I. Ben‐Ami,et al.  Does intraoperative spillage of benign ovarian mucinous cystadenoma increase its recurrence rate? , 2010, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[8]  Simon C Watkins,et al.  Potential solutions for confocal imaging of living animals. , 2007, BioTechniques.

[9]  Alessandro Riva,et al.  N-Desmethylclozapine exerts dual and opposite effects on salivary secretion in the rat. , 2010, European journal of oral sciences.

[10]  Na Ji,et al.  Minimally invasive microendoscopy system for in vivo functional imaging of deep nuclei in the mouse brain. , 2015, Biomedical optics express.

[11]  A. Mehta,et al.  In vivo mammalian brain imaging using one- and two-photon fluorescence microendoscopy. , 2004, Journal of neurophysiology.

[12]  Martyn Sherriff,et al.  A confocal micro-endoscopic investigation of the relationship between the microhardness of carious dentine and its autofluorescence. , 2010, European journal of oral sciences.

[13]  A. Polglase,et al.  A fluorescence confocal endomicroscope for in vivo microscopy of the upper- and the lower-GI tract. , 2005, Gastrointestinal endoscopy.

[14]  G. Bourg-Heckly,et al.  Human in vivo fluorescence microimaging of the alveolar ducts and sacs during bronchoscopy , 2009, European Respiratory Journal.

[15]  Taichi Isobe,et al.  Irinotecan-based combination chemotherapy for metastatic small intestinal adenocarcinoma. , 2010, Oncology letters.

[16]  A. Zelmer,et al.  Noninvasive fluorescence imaging of small animals , 2013, Journal of microscopy.

[17]  Antoine Adamantidis,et al.  Control of Ventricular Ciliary Beating by the Melanin Concentrating Hormone-Expressing Neurons of the Lateral Hypothalamus: A Functional Imaging Survey , 2013, Front. Endocrinol..

[18]  M. Neurath,et al.  High resolution colonoscopy in live mice , 2006, Nature Protocols.

[19]  A. Gmitro,et al.  Confocal microscopy through a fiber-optic imaging bundle. , 1993, Optics letters.

[20]  Mathieu Salaün,et al.  Confocal fluorescence endomicroscopy of the human airways. , 2009, Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society.

[21]  Daomu Zhao,et al.  Optical vortices generated by multi-level achromatic spiral phase plates for broadband beams , 2008 .

[22]  Thomas D. Wang,et al.  Targeted detection of murine colonic dysplasia in vivo with flexible multispectral scanning fiber endoscopy. , 2012, Journal of biomedical optics.

[23]  Andrew Bush,et al.  "Beam me up, Scotty!". , 2007, American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine.

[24]  Watt W. Webb,et al.  In vivo imaging of unstained tissues using long gradient index lens multiphoton endoscopic systems , 2012, Biomedical optics express.

[25]  P. Chomczyński,et al.  RNAzol ® RT: a new single-step method for isolation of RNA , 2010 .

[26]  Tom Kamiel Magda Vercauteren,et al.  In vivo imaging of the bronchial wall microstructure using fibered confocal fluorescence microscopy. , 2007, American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine.

[27]  Ina Pavlova,et al.  In vivo imaging of unstained tissues using a compact and flexible multiphoton microendoscope. , 2012, Journal of biomedical optics.

[28]  Angelique Kano,et al.  Design and demonstration of a miniature catheter for a confocal microendoscope. , 2004, Applied optics.

[29]  Hiroshi Kimura,et al.  Fusion of proinsulin-producing bone marrow-derived cells with hepatocytes in diabetes , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.