Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) have made a major breakthrough in the field of imaging with Brillouin microscope technology, increasing the speed and throughput of Brillouin microscopes by 1,000 times, making observation of photosensitive biological samples more efficient, and providing a powerful tool for exploring life sciences. A related paper was published in the journal Nature Photonics on the 20th.
"Brillouin scattering" means that when light strikes a substance, it interacts with the thermal vibrations that naturally occur inside the substance, exchanging energy and slightly changing the frequency or color of the light. Measuring the spectrum of scattered light can reveal the internal structure and physical properties of matter.
It was not until the beginning of the 21st century that the principle of "Brillouin scattering" was applied to non-invasive real-time imaging technology in biology. Until now, scientists using Brillouin microscopes could only see one pixel of the object under observation at a time. In 2022, the EMBL Prevedel team expanded the field of view to a line containing 100 pixels for the first time. The development of this technology has significantly improved imaging speed and resolution and reduced light damage. The British "Guardian" selected this achievement as one of the top ten science news of the year.
The researchers improved Brillouin microscope technology this time, making it approximately 1,000 times faster and 1,000 times more efficient. At the same time, new microscopy methods have expanded the range of materials that can be observed, from seeing only a line along the observation object to now being able to see a complete plane of about 10,000 pixels. This allows scientists to capture 3D images quickly enough to observe living organisms.
Robert Prevedel, corresponding author of the paper and leader of the EMBL team, said that this advancement in the field of mechanical imaging or Brillouin imaging is of great significance and opens a new "window" for scientists to explore life.
This method will provide a powerful tool for early diagnosis of cancer, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and other diseases. It will also revolutionize how scientists measure and track the mechanical changes in cells during normal development and greatly improve scientists' understanding of the importance of mechanical forces in biology.