Laser Speckle Microscope for Instantaneous Determination of Condition of Single Living Cell

A laser speckle microscopy imaging system for observation of living cells was developed. This system consists of an optical microscope, a laser source, a single optical fiber, and a video camera. The system has an advantage in that cellular conditions could be instantaneously determined by observing speckle movements. In the experiments, the speckle fluctuations of living and fixed HeLa cells were compared with the change in the temperature of the culture medium around the cells, and their video images were quantitatively analyzed. By applying this system, it is possible to estimate not only cellular activity but also real-time movements of intercellular materials including the cytoplasm without requiring complicated labeling processes.