A compact Airy beam light sheet microscope with a tilted cylindrical lens.

Zhengyi Yang,Martynas Prokopas,Jonathan Nylk,Clara Coll-Lladó,Kishan Dholakia,David E K Ferrier,Tom Vettenburg,Frank J Gunn-Moore

doi:10.1364/boe.5.003434

Abstract

Light-sheet imaging is rapidly gaining importance for imaging intact biological specimens. Many of the latest innovations rely on the propagation-invariant Bessel or Airy beams to form an extended light sheet to provide high resolution across a large field of view. Shaping light to realize propagation-invariant beams often relies on complex programming of spatial light modulators or specialized, custom made, optical elements. Here we present a straightforward and low-cost modification to the traditional light-sheet setup, based on the open-access light-sheet microscope OpenSPIM, to achieve Airy light-sheet illumination. This brings wide field single-photon light-sheet imaging to a broader range of endusers. Fluorescent microspheres embedded in agarose and a zebrafish larva were imaged to demonstrate how such a microscope can have a minimal footprint and cost without compromising on imaging quality.

Highlights

Since the concept of light-sheet imaging was re-visited ten years ago [1], light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) is becoming increasingly important in biological research, in particular for monitoring the development of large three-dimensional samples
In LSFM, only a thin layer of the sample is illuminated at a time and the images are captured perpendicular to the illuminated plane
We have demonstrated a low-cost compact Airy-beam light-sheet microscope, constructed by converting a conventional light sheet microscope using readily-available, off-the-shelf optical components

Summary

Introduction

Since the concept of light-sheet imaging was re-visited ten years ago [1], light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) is becoming increasingly important in biological research, in particular for monitoring the development of large three-dimensional samples. In contrast to the Bessel beam, the Airy beam does not need to be scanned to create the light sheet, a cylindrical lens produces the same time-averaged intensity distribution. This enables a significant reduction in size and complexity of the optics. Minor modifications were required to add Airy functionality to this compact and low-cost light-sheet microscope Before experimentally demonstrating this concept, we explored its potential and evaluated its performance using simulations with optical design software Zemax.

Theoretical concepts and performance

Simulations

Experimental validation

Conclusion