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?
- The
object is illuminated with light of
a specific wavelength.
- Particles
in the object absorb this light and
re-emit it at a higher wavelength (i.e., different colour). These
particles are called fluorophores.
- The
object is infused with fluorophores before being placed under the
microscope.
- 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.
- 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.