Light-Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy: Shared Instrumentation to Visualize Biology in Four Dimensions
This project provides UW–Madison researchers with access to a turn-key light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) imaging system in a dedicated core facility and establishes a partnership with the UW–Madison Optical Imaging Core facility, which has been structured to serve the microscopy needs of the entire campus.
LSFM is a state-of-the-art imaging method that optimizes photon detection efficiency by only illuminating the sample plane of interest. This unique design results in an extremely low rate of photobleaching and phototoxicity, enabling long-term imaging for hours or days. This opens the door for many researchers to perform 4D imaging of large and delicate samples, while still being able to observe fast subcellular processes and interactions within cells, tissues and even intact organisms.
Acquisition of a cutting edge LSFM imaging platform will promote groundbreaking research across campus and fundamentally transform the ability to address critical biomedical issues across a wide range of fields.