In vivo optical microscopy enables non-invasive visualization of (sub-)cellular structures and functional dynamics in live tissues and animal models, and has opened up numerous new opportunities in both fundamental biological research and clinical applications. Unlike traditional optical microscopes which target thin ex vivo tissue sections or cultured cells, to image thick, live tissue in situ impose two technical requirements: 1) optical sectioning capability for depth-resolved three-dimensional microscopy; and 2) adequate 4D spatiotemporal (3D space × 1D time) resolution to capture dynamic functional information in the presence of live sample motion.

Our lab focuses on innovating optical microscopy technologies for various biomedical applications. In specific:

A. The fast progress of generations of genetically-encoded calcium indicators (GECI) as well as the recently-developed genetically-encoded voltage indictor (GEVI) that can optically report neuronal voltage dynamics calls for ever faster 3D optical microscopy modalities with at least cellular-level spatial resolution. How to constantly improve the resolution, speed, field-of-view size, penetration depth via novel imaging principles is one future direction we focus on.

B. In clinical scenarios such as non-invasive early diagnosis, biopsy guidance, surgery guidance, and follow-up treatments, a light-weight miniature imaging device (of high imaging performance of course) is highly desired. How to come up with ingenious optical and optomechanical designs and to create tailored compact/miniature handheld/endoscopic microscopy apparatuses that enable non-invasive acquisition of subepithelial 3D tissue structures in situ and in vivo—thereby affording histopathology-level visualization without tissue resection—is another priority direction in our lab.