Technology Summary

Penn State researchers have developed a novel concept of parallel axial imaging using band-shifting fluorescent probes. The excitation wavelengths are first mapped to different spatial locations in the axial direction by using chromatically aberrated excitation light. The wavelength-space encoding is then transferred to a fluorescence signal through the use of band-shifting fluorescent probes, which are fluorophores that exhibit an excitation-dependent emission band (traditional fluorophores produce the same emission band regardless of the excitation wavelength). This concept is similar to using multiple wavelength channels to carry digital bits of information in parallel in an optical fiber (i.e., wavelength division multiplexing), and can enable faster single-photon or multi-photon fluorescence imaging by eliminating or reducing time-consuming axial scanning.