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Breaking the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in fiber-optical two-photon fluorescence endoscopy by an azimuthally-polarized beam

Although fiber-optical two-photon endoscopy has been recognized as a potential high-resolution diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in vivo, its resolution is limited by the optical diffraction nature to a few micrometers due to the low numerical aperture of an endoscopic objective. On the other han...

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Autores principales: Gu, Min, Kang, Hong, Li, Xiangping
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3887375/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24406685
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep03627
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author Gu, Min
Kang, Hong
Li, Xiangping
author_facet Gu, Min
Kang, Hong
Li, Xiangping
author_sort Gu, Min
collection PubMed
description Although fiber-optical two-photon endoscopy has been recognized as a potential high-resolution diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in vivo, its resolution is limited by the optical diffraction nature to a few micrometers due to the low numerical aperture of an endoscopic objective. On the other hand, stimulated emission depletion (STED) achieved by a circularly-polarized vortex beam has been used to break the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in a bulky microscope. It has been a challenge to apply the STED principle to a fiber-optical two-photon endoscope as a circular polarization state cannot be maintained due to the birefringence of a fiber. Here, we demonstrate the first fiber-optical STED two-photon endoscope using an azimuthally-polarized beam directly generated from a double-clad fiber. As such, the diffraction-limited resolution barrier of fiber-optical two-photon endoscopy can be broken by a factor of three. Our new accomplishment has paved a robust way for high-resolution in vivo biomedical studies.
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spelling pubmed-38873752014-01-10 Breaking the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in fiber-optical two-photon fluorescence endoscopy by an azimuthally-polarized beam Gu, Min Kang, Hong Li, Xiangping Sci Rep Article Although fiber-optical two-photon endoscopy has been recognized as a potential high-resolution diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in vivo, its resolution is limited by the optical diffraction nature to a few micrometers due to the low numerical aperture of an endoscopic objective. On the other hand, stimulated emission depletion (STED) achieved by a circularly-polarized vortex beam has been used to break the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in a bulky microscope. It has been a challenge to apply the STED principle to a fiber-optical two-photon endoscope as a circular polarization state cannot be maintained due to the birefringence of a fiber. Here, we demonstrate the first fiber-optical STED two-photon endoscope using an azimuthally-polarized beam directly generated from a double-clad fiber. As such, the diffraction-limited resolution barrier of fiber-optical two-photon endoscopy can be broken by a factor of three. Our new accomplishment has paved a robust way for high-resolution in vivo biomedical studies. Nature Publishing Group 2014-01-10 /pmc/articles/PMC3887375/ /pubmed/24406685 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep03627 Text en Copyright © 2014, Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
spellingShingle Article
Gu, Min
Kang, Hong
Li, Xiangping
Breaking the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in fiber-optical two-photon fluorescence endoscopy by an azimuthally-polarized beam
title Breaking the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in fiber-optical two-photon fluorescence endoscopy by an azimuthally-polarized beam
title_full Breaking the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in fiber-optical two-photon fluorescence endoscopy by an azimuthally-polarized beam
title_fullStr Breaking the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in fiber-optical two-photon fluorescence endoscopy by an azimuthally-polarized beam
title_full_unstemmed Breaking the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in fiber-optical two-photon fluorescence endoscopy by an azimuthally-polarized beam
title_short Breaking the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in fiber-optical two-photon fluorescence endoscopy by an azimuthally-polarized beam
title_sort breaking the diffraction-limited resolution barrier in fiber-optical two-photon fluorescence endoscopy by an azimuthally-polarized beam
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3887375/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24406685
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep03627
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