Confocal Brillouin microscopy for three-dimensional mechanical imaging

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25288055
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Polymer chemistry
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: ANNAKA MASAHIKO 九州大学, 理学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (40282446)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): MATSUURA TOYOAKI 奈良県立医科大学, 医学部, 非常勤講師 (10238959)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 水晶体 / 弾性率 / ブリユアン散乱

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Acoustically induced inelastic light scattering allows non-contact, direct readout of the viscoelastic properties of a material. Extending the Brillouin technique from point sampling spectroscopy to imaging modality would open up new possibilities for mechanical imaging, but has been challenging because rapid spectrum acquisition is required. We demonstrate a confocal Brillouin microscope based on a fully parallel spectrometer-a virtually imaged phased array-that improves the detection efficiency by nearly 100-fold over previous approaches. Using the system, we show the first cross-sectional Brillouin imaging based on elastic properties as the contrast mechanism and monitor fast dynamic changes in elastic modulus during polymer crosslinking. Furthermore, we report the first in situ biomechanical measurement of the crystalline lens in a mouse eye. These results suggest multiple applications of Brillouin microscopy in biomedical and biomaterial science.

Free Research Field

高分子物理化学