Higher Harmonic Generation Microscopy Research Articles

Rapid On-Site Histology of Lung and Pleural Biopsies Using Higher Harmonic Generation Microscopy and Artificial Intelligence Analysis

Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent and lethal cancers. To improve health outcomes while reducing health care burden, it becomes crucial to move toward early detection and cost-effective workflows. Currently, there is no method for the on-site rapid histologic feedback on biopsies taken in diagnostic, endoscopic, or surgical procedures. Higher harmonic generation (HHG) microscopy is a laser-based technique that provides images of unprocessed tissue. In this study, we report the feasibility of an HHG portable microscope in the clinical workflow in terms of acquisition time, image quality, and diagnostic accuracy in suspected pulmonary and pleural malignancy. One hundred nine biopsies of 47 patients were imaged and a biopsy overview image was provided within a median acquisition time of 6 minutes after excision. The assessment by pathologists and an artificial intelligence algorithm showed that image quality was sufficient for a malignancy or nonmalignancy diagnosis in 97% of the biopsies, and 87% of the HHG images were correctly scored by the pathologists. HHG is therefore an excellent candidate to provide a rapid pathology outcome on biopsy samples, enabling immediate diagnosis and (local) treatment.

Leukocyte differentiation in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids using higher harmonic generation microscopy and deep learning.

In diseases such as interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), patient diagnosis relies on diagnostic analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and biopsies. Immunological BALF analysis includes differentiation of leukocytes by standard cytological techniques that are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Studies have shown promising leukocyte identification performance on blood fractions, using third harmonic generation (THG) and multiphoton excited autofluorescence (MPEF) microscopy. To extend leukocyte differentiation to BALF samples using THG/MPEF microscopy, and to show the potential of a trained deep learning algorithm for automated leukocyte identification and quantification. Leukocytes from blood obtained from three healthy individuals and one asthma patient, and BALF samples from six ILD patients were isolated and imaged using label-free microscopy. The cytological characteristics of leukocytes, including neutrophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes, and macrophages, in terms of cellular and nuclear morphology, and THG and MPEF signal intensity, were determined. A deep learning model was trained on 2D images and used to estimate the leukocyte ratios at the image-level using the differential cell counts obtained using standard cytological techniques as reference. Different leukocyte populations were identified in BALF samples using label-free microscopy, showing distinctive cytological characteristics. Based on the THG/MPEF images, the deep learning network has learned to identify individual cells and was able to provide a reasonable estimate of the leukocyte percentage, reaching >90% accuracy on BALF samples in the hold-out testing set. Label-free THG/MPEF microscopy in combination with deep learning is a promising technique for instant differentiation and quantification of leukocytes. Immediate feedback on leukocyte ratios has potential to speed-up the diagnostic process and to reduce costs, workload and inter-observer variations.

Rapid On-Site Pathology Visualization of COVID-19 Characteristics Using Higher Harmonic Generation Microscopy.

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Fractional thermolysis by bipolar radiofrequency facilitates cutaneous delivery of peptide and siRNA with minor loss of barrier function.

In this study, we aimed to illustrate the utility of fractional radiofrequency (RF) that generated microchannels in the skin, allowing delivery of peptide and siRNA via the skin. The mechanisms involved in the correlation between macromolecule permeation and skin structure were also elucidated. The morphology of the skin was examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), higher harmonic generation microscopy (HGM), and physiological factors. In vivo skin distribution of macromolecules was assessed by fluorescence and confocal microscopies. RF thermolysis selectively created an array of micropores deep into the epidermis without significant removal of the stratum corneum (SC). With energy of 30 mJ, a pore depth of 35 μm was achieved. The bipolar RF resulted in a 3-fold increase of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) compared with intact skin. The respective skin accumulation and flux of the peptide with a molecular weight (MW) of 2335 Da was 3- and 23-fold greater for the RF-treated group than for the non-treatment group. RF enhanced skin accumulation of siRNAs with MW of 10 and 15 kDa by 6.2- and 2.6-fold, respectively. Cutaneous penetration of the macromolecules with an MW of at least 40 kDa could be accomplished by RF. Confocal microscopy imaging revealed that RF could effectively deliver the peptide up to at least a 74-μm depth. The penetration depth of siRNA by RF irradiation was about 50 μm. The novel RF device efficiently delivered macromolecules into the skin while reserving SC layers to support some barrier functions. In this work, for the first time the assistance of fractional RF on peptide and siRNA transport was demonstrated.

Characterization of oral squamous cell carcinoma based on higher‐harmonic generation microscopy

In vivo higher-harmonic generation microscopy (HGM) performed on healthy human oral mucosa not only provides images with a <500 nm lateral resolution at a 280 μm penetration depth, but also leaves no photodamages in the tissues. These advantages suggest that HGM could serve as an ideal virtual biopsy tool for in vivo, in situ, and immediate histopathological diagnosis of oral cancer. However, translation of such mechanism for clinical cancer diagnosis requires evidence based algorithm capable to differentiate cancerous tissues from normal. It is thus critical to investigate if the endogenous contrast provided by the HGM would be high enough to differentiate cancerous versus normal tissues in human oral mucosa. In this report, ex vivo HGM study was performed on the cancerous mucosa from 10 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Compared with histology, HGM revealed histopathological features including the cytological abnormalities, loss of differentiation, interruption of basement membrane, and irregular epithelial stratification in all 10 specimens. In addition, distinct patterns of collagen fibers and increased distribution area of actin filaments in tumor cells were noted. These results indicate HGM holds great potential for the optical biopsy screening of oral cancer lesions.

Study of apoptosis induction using fluorescent and higher harmonic generation microscopy techniques in Acartia tonsa nauplii exposed to chronic concentrations of nickel

In this study, we applied different fluorescent techniques to analyse the induction of apoptosis in the copepod Acartia tonsa nauplii exposed to low concentrations of nickel chloride (NiCl2). Newly hatched and later naupliar stages were exposed to increasing concentrations of NiCl2 (0.016, 0.025 and 0.063 mg·L−1) for 7 days and then stained with annexin V–FITC, a vital fluorescent probe commonly used to visualise apoptotic cells in live samples. Nauplii were also stained with TUNEL, a non-vital fluorescent probe used to detect apoptosis in fixed copepods. Moreover, we used for the first time, two-photon fluorescence (2PF) microscopy and higher harmonic generation microscopy (second SHG and third THG harmonic generation) to study apoptosis induction in A. tonsa nauplii without the use of fluorescent probes. 2PF and THG intensity increased in samples exposed to higher Ni concentrations, with respect to the control, whereas SHG signals were similar in all treated samples and visualised muscles. Future perspectives on the use of these new technologies to reveal apoptosis are discussed.

In VivoVirtual Biopsy of Human Skin by Using Noninvasive Higher Harmonic Generation Microscopy

Higher harmonic generation microscopy (HHGM), combining both second- and third-harmonic generation (SHG and THG) modalities, is a new paradigm for <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">in vivo</i> noninvasive virtual biopsy. With the ability to achieve noninvasiveness, high resolution, and high penetrability at the same time, HHGM is a promising tool for future noninvasive diagnosis of skin diseases. In this paper, we report our preliminary pilot clinical trial results on <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">in vivo</i> virtual biopsy of human skin by using HHGM. <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">In vivo</i> virtual biopsy imaging has been performed on 21 volunteers' inside and outside forearm skin along with the damage evaluation. Together with an embryo viability study, our results not only indicate a superior viability performance of the developed system, but also a much improved penetrability in different skin types. <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Ex vivo</i> studies further confirm the capability of the developed virtual biopsy system to pathohistologically distinguish different skin diseases. Our <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">in vivo</i> HHGM biopsy study of human skin with different colors also reveals the central role of melanin in the epi-THG resonance enhancement and attenuation. With a unique capability to molecular image the melanin distribution, epi-THG microscopy is also highly valuable for diagnosing and screening early melanocytic lesions.

In vivo harmonic generation biopsy of human skin

The ability to in vivo image deep tissues noninvasively with a high resolution is strongly required for optical virtual biopsy. Higher harmonic generation microscopy, combined with second- and third-harmonic generation microscopies, is applied to 17 Asian volunteers' forearm skin. After continuous observation for 30 min, no visible damage was found. Our study proves that harmonic generation biopsy (HGB) is able to satisfy the safety requirement and to provide high penetrability (approximately 300 microm) and submicron resolution all at the same time and is a promising tool for future virtual biopsy of skin diseases. In contrast to a previous study on fixed human skin specimens, a much improved penetrability and much reduced resolution-degradation versus depth are found in this in vivo examination.

Biological Second and Third Harmonic Generation Microscopy

Multiphoton microscopy has become a standard method for noninvasive imaging of thick specimens with subcellular resolution. Higher harmonic generation microscopy (HHGM), based on nonlinear multiphoton excitation, is a contrast mechanism for the structural and molecular imaging of native samples in cell culture and in fixed and live tissues, for both, three-dimensional and four-dimensional reconstructions. HHGM comprises second and third harmonic generation (SHG, THG) of ordered molecules, can be obtained without exogenous labels, and provides detailed real-time optical reconstruction of fibrillar collagen, myosin, microtubules, and membrane potential, as well as cell depolarization. This unit presents the principles of SHG and THG and the basic setup of a HHGM system, and summarizes current applications in cell biology. Multimodal multiphoton microscopy using HHGM together with two-photon excited fluorescence will develop into a key approach to real-time imaging of cell dynamics in the context of live tissues.