Optimised Lasers for Multi-Color Multi-Photon Imaging

Multi-colour, Multi-Photon fluorescence Microscopy (MCMPM) is a powerful technique for imaging living cells and tissues, which is used in many areas of biological and biomedical research, including cell biology, parasitology, developmental biology, cancer research and drug discovery. The widespread use of MCMPM is limited by the high cost and specialist knowledge required to operate the pulsed lasers at the heart of this technique. The goal of this proposal is to investigate the feasibility of using ultrafast mode-locked semi-conductor disk lasers (SDLs) as excitation sources for MCMPM.

These lasers should be superior to the current industry standard combination of a Ti:Sapphire and OPO laser on the basis of compact lightweight design, turn-key operation, and significantly reduced price. The project will focus on identification of the most appropriate combinations of fluorophores to cover the widest range of biological applications, development of appropriate SDL prototypes, and comparison of SDL performance with Ti:Sapphire / OPO excitation. By lowering the cost of a multi-photon imaging system and improving its ease of use, the number of academic and commercial biological and biomedical researchers having access to this technique will increase. This has potential to positively impact the health care industry, and thereby benefit society at large