FLUORESCENCE – SCI & TECH

FLUORESCENCE – SCI & TECH

News: Using Fluorescence Imaging for Improved Outcomes in Skin Cancer Surgery

Fluorescence Microscopy:

●       A fluorescence microscope views an object by studying how it reemits light that it has absorbed, i.e., how it fluoresces. This is its basic principle.

How it works?

1. The object is illuminated with light of a specific wavelength.
2. Particles in the object absorb this light and re-emit it at a higher wavelength (i.e., different colour). These particles are called fluorophores.
3. The object is infused with fluorophores before being placed under the microscope.
4. When the fluorophores fluoresce, a fluorescent microscope can track them as they move inside the object, revealing the object’s internal shape and other characteristics.
5. Scientists have developed different fluorophores to identify and study different entities, from specific parts of the DNA to protein complexes.

Applications:

●       It is used to image specific features of small specimens such as microbes.

●       It is also used to visually enhance 3-D features at small scales.

●       It allows the use of multicolour staining, labelling of structures within cells and the measurement of the physiological state of a cell.

●       It is the most popular method for studying the dynamic behaviour exhibited in live-cell imaging.

●       Different molecules can now be stained with different colours, allowing multiple types of molecules to be tracked simultaneously.