title: Two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy.
abstract: Two-photon fluorescence microscopy is one of the most important recent inventions in biological imaging. This technology enables noninvasive study of biological specimens in three dimensions with submicrometer resolution. Two-photon excitation of fluorophores results from the simultaneous absorption of two photons. This excitation process has a number of unique advantages, such as reduced specimen photodamage and enhanced penetration depth. It also produces higher-contrast images and is a novel method to trigger localized photochemical reactions. Two-photon microscopy continues to find an increasing number of applications in biology and medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. ptso@mit.edu
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: So
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Masters
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Berland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000266:history / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D018715:Microscopy, Video; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation; D017785:Photons
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes