Label-free handheld microscope sets the stage for real-time imaging

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University developed a handheld microscope for real-time, label-free tissue imaging at an affordable cost and unprecedented subcellular resolution. Published in Nature Communications and designed with on-the-fly clinical application in mind, the device uses quantitative oblique back illumination microscopy to obtain high-resolution images without the use of fluorophores or specialized instruments. The device comprises just three optical elements and uses low-cost, light-emitting diodes, providing an affordable, noninvasive option to image tissue in real time. With this device, the team demonstrated its potential use in dermatology and brain tumor margin assessment. 

“The device we developed solves a critical problem in live tissue imaging at the cellular level for clinical applications,” said corresponding author Francisco Robles, PhD, Department of Imaging Sciences. “Existing methods either lack the spatial resolution to observe critical histological structures or require exogenous contrast agents, and emerging methods use very complex and expensive systems that can cause tissue damage. Our approach has the best of all worlds: It provides rich histological information at the subcellular level, it does not use exogenous contrast agents, it is inexpensive, and it does not cause any harm to the tissue. Thus, the device can enable real-time, noninvasive, label-free histological imaging — effectively an ‘optical biopsy’ — which has wide-ranging implications for rapid intraoperative and point-of-care tissue assessment.”

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