Volumetric light sheet imaging with adaptive optics correction

Light sheet microscopy has developed quickly over the past decades and become a popular method for imaging live model organisms and other thick biological tissues. For rapid volumetric imaging, an electrically tunable lens can be used to rapidly change the imaging plane in the sample. For larger fields of view and higher NA objectives, the electrically tunable lens introduces aberrations in the system, particularly away from the nominal focus and off-axis. Here, we describe a system that employs an electrically tunable lens and adaptive optics to image over a volume of 499 x 499 x 192 mu m3 with close to diffraction-limited resolution. Compared to the system without adaptive optics, the performance shows an increase in signal to background ratio by a factor of 3.5. While the system currently requires 7s/volume, it should be straightforward to increase the imaging speed to under 1s per volume.

Automated summary

The combination of an electrically tunable lens and adaptive optics allows for high-resolution imaging of a volume of 499 x 499 x 192 cubic micrometers. Compared to a system without adaptive optics, the signal to background ratio has increased by a factor of 3.5. While the current imaging speed is 7s/volume, it should be easy to increase it to under 1s per volume.