Near-field penetrating optical microscopy: a live cell nanoscale refractive index measurement technique for quantification of internal macromolecular density.

Optics Letters
Samantha Dale StrasserVadim Backman

Abstract

Quantification of intracellular nanoscale macromolecular density distribution is a fundamental aspect to understanding cellular processes. We report a near-field penetrating optical microscopy (NPOM) technique to directly probe the internal nanoscale macromolecular density of biological cells through quantification of intracellular refractive index (RI). NPOM inserts a tapered optical fiber probe to successive depths into an illuminated sample. A 50 nm diameter probe tip collects signal that exhibits a linear relationship with the sample RI at a spatial resolution of approximately 50 nm for biologically relevant measurements, one order of magnitude finer than the Abbe diffraction limit. Live and fixed cell data illustrate the mechanical ability of a 50 nm probe to penetrate biological samples.

References

Jul 1, 2005·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Selim ElhadjRavi F Saraf
Oct 5, 2006·Physics in Medicine and Biology·Y L JinP N Wang
May 26, 2007·Science·Stefan W Hell
Oct 25, 2007·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Irving ItzkanLev T Perelman
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Jun 30, 2009·Annals of Anatomy = Anatomischer Anzeiger : Official Organ of the Anatomische Gesellschaft·Roman I Koning, Abraham J Koster

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Citations

Feb 20, 2014·Biosensors & Bioelectronics·Yanina ShevchenkoAli Khademhosseini
Feb 28, 2015·Optics Letters·Zeinab Hajjarian, Seemantini K Nadkarni

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