Tri-modal microscopy with multiphoton and optical coherence microscopy/tomography for multi-scale and multi-contrast imaging

Multi-scale multimodal microscopy is a very useful technique by providing multiple imaging contrasts with adjustable field of views and spatial resolutions. Here, we present a tri-modal microscope combining multiphoton microscopy (MPM), optical coherence microscopy (OCM) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) for subsurface visualization of biological tissues. The advantages of the tri-modal system are demonstrated on various biological samples. It enables the visualization of multiple intrinsic contrasts including scattering, two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF), and second harmonic generation (SHG). It also enables a rapid scanning over a large tissue area and a high resolution zoom-in for cellular-level structures on regions of interest. The tri-modal microscope can be important for label-free imaging to obtain a sufficient set of parameters for reliable sample analysis. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America