Data assimilation via fluorescence imaging

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K21836
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 62:Applied informatics and related fields
• Research Institution: National Institutes of Natural Sciences (2023); Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (2020-2022)
• Principal Investigator: Watabe Masaki 大学共同利用機関法人自然科学研究機構(機構直轄研究施設), 生命創成探究センター, 特任准教授 (70599480)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-07-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 生物画像シミュレーション / 細胞モデリング / 光学イメージング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Transport of light through living cells is a complex optical phenomenon involving index refraction fluctuation and scattering (i.e., optical turbulence), treated with electromagnetic mechanical theory, classically. Ray tracing through intracellular media depends on the geometric optic effects of refractive index, transmission, and reflection, which are approximate solutions of Maxwell's equations. However, optical phenomena such as interference and diffraction of light are wave mechanical, and, in the context of intracellular optical turbulence, we expect the phase of wave functions to be significantly involved in biological cell imaging. In this study, we use the paraxial wave equation and then derive intracellular optical properties that interconnect between the phase of wave functions and optical turbulence inside cells. We then demonstrate to directly reconstruct intracellular optical parameters (e.g., refractive index and attenuation coefficient) from live cell imaging.

Free Research Field

生物物理

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的意義は、生体細胞内の光伝播の詳細なモデル化とシミュレーションにより、光の干渉や回折といった波動光学現象を解明し、細胞内の光学特性（屈折率、減衰係数など）の測定・再構築を実現した点にある。これにより、生細胞蛍光イメージングデータから、より正確な細胞内の屈折率分布や減衰係数の分布を得ることが可能となった。社会的意義としては、医療画像解析において、より高精度な細胞内観察や診断技術の向上に寄与し、病気の早期発見や新たな治療法の開発に繋がる可能性がある点が挙げられる。