NONINVASIVE IMAGE ACQUISITION AND ADVANCED PROCESSING IN OPTICAL BIOIMAGING

Light is a most versatile tool for investigating biological systems an d phenomena; the range, non-destructiveness, spatial discrimination an d speed of optical imaging are all important for investigating structu re and function at the cellular, tissue or even whole organism level. In live biological imaging, where the technological requirements are h eightened, other features of light, such as coherence and wavelength, are used to generate the additional contrast and resolution needed. We report here recent improvements in our ability to image biological sp ecimens optically, focusing on (a) spectral resolution and the related image processing issues, and (b) tomographic three-dimensional fluore scence imaging in vivo. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights rese rved.