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Free-electron laser-based extended wide-field mid-infrared photothermal imaging for biomedical and microplastic analysis
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Researchers developed a wide-field mid-infrared photothermal (MIP) microscope using a high-power free-electron laser, expanding the imaging field of view by nearly 20-fold compared to conventional quantum cascade laser systems. This breakthrough significantly enhances the ability to detect and characterize microplastics at sub-micrometer resolution in biological tissues and environmental samples.
Wide-field mid-infrared photothermal (MIP) imaging offers rapid labelfree chemical contrast for biomedical and polymer analysis. However, its field of view (FOV) is limited by the pulse intensity of conventional infrared lasers. Here, we present a wide-field MIP microscope that uses a high-power free-electron laser (FEL) rather than a quantum cascade laser (QCL) as the pump source to achieve a substantially larger FOV. Both implementations use counter-propagating beam paths with a 450 nm LED as the probe source and a CMOS camera that records images using a virtual lock-in detection scheme. QCL nanojoule pulse energies enables FOV of around 45 micrometers for widefield MIP imaging with a sub-micrometer resolution for polystyrene beads, Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected fixed tissues, and laryngeal cancer cryosections. IR spectra in the range of 1000-1800 wavenumbers can be reconstructed by tuning the QCL. FEL pulse energies of up to microjoules expand the FOV by a factor of nearly 20 as demonstrated by wide-field MIP imaging of polystyrene beads, single cells, and murine brain tissue. We discuss current challenges and further improvements to implement high-power IR lasers for wide-field MIP imaging with even larger FOVs in the context of biomedical research and diagnostics.
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Free-electron laser-based extended wide-field mid-infrared photothermal imaging for biomedical and microplastic analysis
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A wide-field mid-infrared photothermal microscope using a free-electron laser achieved a nearly 20-fold larger imaging field of view compared to conventional quantum cascade laser systems, enabling rapid characterization of microplastics and biological tissues. This technological advance makes high-throughput microplastic detection in complex biological matrices more feasible.
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Scientists have developed a faster, more powerful microscope technique that uses infrared light to spot tiny details in cells, tissue samples, and even microplastic particles—without needing to add dyes or stains. By using a stronger laser source, they were able to scan an area about 20 times larger than previous methods while still seeing fine details, which could speed up medical diagnoses (like detecting cancer or infections in tissue samples) and make it easier to screen for microplastic contamination in the environment or human body.
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Scientists have developed a faster imaging technique that uses a powerful laser to "see" the chemical makeup of tiny samples—like individual cells, tissue slices, or microplastic particles—over a much larger area at once (about 20 times bigger than previous methods). This matters because it could speed up detecting diseases like tuberculosis or cancer in tissue samples, and it also offers a promising tool for spotting and identifying microplastics, which are increasingly found in our food, water, and even our bodies.
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