Technique could boost resolution of tissue imaging as much as tenfold

For a long time, it has been difficult to image deeply within biological tissue.This is because complex media like biological tissue tend to scatter light, causing it to bounce around inside until it comes out again at different angles.This contorts the focal point of optical magnifying instruments, lessening both their goal and imaging profundity.

This scattering can be avoided by using light with a longer wavelength, but it also lowers the resolution of the image.Now, researchers at MIT have developed a method that makes use of scattering to their advantage rather than trying to avoid it.

They are able to use light scattering to increase imaging resolution by up to ten times that of existing systems using the new method, which they describe in a Science paper.In point of fact, the new method permits imaging at “optical super-resolution,” or beyond this diffraction limit, in contrast to conventional microscopes, which are constrained by what is referred to as the diffraction barrier and are unable to focus beyond a certain resolution.