| 摘要 |
Presented herein is a real-time target-locking confocal microscope that follows an object moving along an arbitrary path, even as it simultaneously changes its shape, size and orientation. This Target-locking Acquisition with Realtime Confocal (TARC) microscopy system integrates fast image processing and rapid image acquisition using, for example, a Nipkow spinning-disk confocal microscope. The system acquires a 3D stack of images, performs a full structural analysis to locate a feature of interest, moves the sample in response, and then collects the next 3D image stack. In this way, data collection is dynamically adjusted to keep a moving object centered in the field of view. The system's capabilities are demonstrated by target- locking freely-diffusing clusters of attractive colloidal particles, and actively-transported quantum dots (QDs) endocytosed into live cells free to move in three dimensions, for several hours. During this time, both the colloidal clusters and live cells move distances several times the length of the imaging volume. Embodiments may be applied to other applications, such as manufacturing, open water observation of marine life, aerial observation of flying animals, or medical devices, such as tumor removal. |
