Imaging tissue engineering scaffolds using multiphoton microscopy.
In this study, we combined two-photon autofluorescence and second harmonic generation imaging to investigate the three-dimensional microstructure and nonlinear optical properties of tissue engineering scaffolds. We focused on five different types of scaffold materials commonly used in tissue engineering, including: open-cell polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, collagen composite scaffold, collagraft bone graft matrix strip, and nylon. By the use of multiphoton microscopy and a motorized stage, we obtained high resolution, spectrally resolved structural information of the scaffolds over large areas or in three-dimensions. Our results show that the nonlinear optical properties of the scaffolds will enable us to spectrally and morphologically distinguish the different types of scaffold materials investigated. We envision multiphoton microscopy to be a useful technique in tissue engineering applications in understanding the interplay between cultured cells and the scaffold materials.
Sun
Yen
Y
Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, and Department of Dermatology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Tan
Hsin-Yuan
HY
Lin
Sung-Jan
SJ
Lee
Hsuan-Shu
HS
Lin
Tzu-Yu
TY
Jee
Shiou-Hwa
SH
Young
Tai-Horng
TH
Lo
Wen
W
Chen
Wei-Liang
WL
Dong
Chen-Yuan
CY
D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds