Oertzenweg 19 b
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 62600
physiologie@vetmed.fu-berlin.de
Intravital two-photon microscopy (2PM) brought in the last decades unique insight into the mechanisms of immune system dynamics since it enables monitoring of cellular motility and communication of complex systems, in genuine environment. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), with broad application both in research and clinics, is a non-invasive diagnostic method which allows monitoring morphologic changes over large tissue regions. Hence, OCT represents a bridge from bench to bed-side. Here we developed a combined multimodal technology to achieve for the first time co-registered OCT, 2PM and second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging over large volumes (1x1x0.3 mm³) of the paw, spleen, lymph node and femur in mice. We found that processes of resident macrophages in the tendons of the hind paw continuously probe the tissue following the extracellular matrix structures revealed by OCT and SHG. The new design of the combined OCT and 2PM approach opens new roads for multimodal in vivo imaging correlated with dynamic information of various, hardly accessible organs in adult mice.