title: Enhancement of image quality and imaging depth with Airy light-sheet microscopy in cleared and non-cleared neural tissue.
abstract: We have investigated the effect of Airy illumination on the image quality and depth penetration of digitally scanned light-sheet microscopy in turbid neural tissue. We used Fourier analysis of images acquired using Gaussian and Airy light-sheets to assess their respective image quality versus penetration into the tissue. We observed a three-fold average improvement in image quality at 50 μm depth with the Airy light-sheet. We also used optical clearing to tune the scattering properties of the tissue and found that the improvement when using an Airy light-sheet is greater in the presence of stronger sample-induced aberrations. Finally, we used homogeneous resolution probes in these tissues to quantify absolute depth penetration in cleared samples with each beam type. The Airy light-sheet method extended depth penetration by 30% compared to a Gaussian light-sheet.
authors.affiliation: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nylk
authors.affiliation: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK.
authors.forename: Kaley
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McCluskey
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY16 9TF, UK.
authors.forename: Sanya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY16 9TF, UK.
authors.forename: Javier A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Tello
authors.affiliation: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK.
authors.forename: Kishan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dholakia
keywords: (070.0070) Fourier optics and signal processing; (100.2960) Image analysis; (100.2980) Image enhancement; (170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (180.0180) Microscopy; (180.2520) Fluorescence microscopy