Slanted light-sheet array microscopy for large volume imaging at rates exceeding 100 Hz

TL;DR

The paper introduces SLAM, a versatile light-sheet microscopy technique that achieves ultrafast volumetric imaging at over 100 Hz, combining high speed, large field of view, and deep learning-based resolution enhancement.

Contribution

Development of a simple, adaptable slanted light-sheet array microscope enabling ultrafast, high-resolution volumetric imaging exceeding 100 Hz with minimal modifications to existing microscopes.

Findings

Achieves imaging rates over 100 volumes per second.

Supports large imaging regions exceeding 500x500 pixels.

Incorporates deep learning for isotropic resolution enhancement.

Abstract

High-speed image acquisition in light microscopy is essential for a wide range of applications, including observing dynamic biological processes and enabling high-throughput sample analysis. However, traditional imaging speeds are often limited by the scanning mechanisms and the signal-to-noise ratio, and these constraints are further exacerbated by the need for volumetric imaging, optical sectioning, high spatial resolution, and large fields of view. To address these challenges, we have developed a slanted light-sheet array microscope (SLAM), which enables ultrafast volumetric imaging without compromising key technical specifications. SLAM is built on a standard wide-field compound microscope with minimal and straightforward modifications to the illumination path, allowing for easy integration. It can acquire multi-dimensional, high-resolution images at rates exceeding 100 volumes per second across large imaging regions (e.g., exceeding 500 pixels in transverse dimensions and 200 layers in depth). In addition, a deep learning approach based on conditional denoising diffusion probabilistic models is proposed to achieve isotropic resolution. Like traditional light-sheet microscopy, SLAM offers intrinsic optical sectioning and localized photochemistry, while its innovative optomechanical design is compatible with most biological samples prepared using conventional protocols. This makes SLAM a versatile and powerful imaging platform that is accessible to the broader biomedical research community.