title: A portable laser photostimulation and imaging microscope.
abstract: We describe a compact microscope that uses a spatial light modulator (SLM) to control the excitation laser light. The flexibility of SLMs, which can mimic virtually any optical transfer function, enables the experimenter to create, in software, arbitrary spatio-temporal light patterns, including focusing and beam scanning, simply by calculating the appropriate phase mask. Our prototype, a scan-less device with no moving parts, can be used for laser imaging or photostimulation, supplanting the need for an elaborate optical setup. As a proof of principle, we generate complex excitation patterns on fluorescent samples and also perform functional imaging of neuronal activity in living brain slices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Volodymyr
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nikolenko
authors.forename: Darcy S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Peterka
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yuste
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D051379:Mice; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008904:Miniaturization; D019579:Neocortex / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*