Optical Monitoring
Optical Monitoring - Related Videos
03:07
Morphological and Physiological Monitoring of Tumor Spheroids Using Optical Coherence Tomography
0 Views •
2025
Source: Huang, Y. et. al., Longitudinal Morphological and Physiological Monitoring of Three-dimensional Tumor Spheroids Using Optical Coherence Tomography. J. Vis. Exp. (2019)This video demonstrates the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to monitor tumor spheroids in a multi-well plate by capturing high-resolution cross-sectional images. By analyzing light reflections from cellular structures, OCT constructs 3D models to assess morphological features like size and shape while also...
08:31
Three-dimensional Optical-resolution Photoacoustic Microscopy
0 Views •
Cited by 27 •
2011
Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) is an emerging technology capable of imaging optical absorption contrasts in vivo with cellular resolution and sensitivity. Here, we provide a visualized instruction on the experimental protocols of OR-PAM, including system configuration, system alignment, typical in vivo experimental procedures, and functional imaging schemes.
04:08
Simultaneous Optical and Electrophysiological Monitoring of Neuronal Cells in Brain Slices
0 Views •
2025
This video outlines a method for simultaneously imaging and recording electrical activity from transgenic brain slices that contain neuron-specific fluorescent proteins. The procedure involves maintaining the brain slice in a perfusion chamber with aerated artificial cerebrospinal fluid, using a light source to excite fluorescent-labeled cells, and recording the electrical signals with a multichannel probe and patch clamp.
07:12
Real-Time Monitoring of Neurocritical Patients with Diffuse Optical Spectroscopies
0 Views •
Cited by 3 •
2020
Presented here is a protocol for non-invasively monitoring cerebral hemodynamics of neurocritical patients in real-time and at the bedside using diffuse optics. Specifically, the proposed protocol uses a hybrid diffuse optical systems to detect and display real-time information on cerebral oxygenation, cerebral blood flow and cerebral metabolism.
09:39
Optical Biosensing
0 Views •
2023
Optical biosensors utilize light to detect the binding of a target molecule. These sensors can utilize a label molecule, which produces a measurable signal such as fluorescence, or these sensors can be label-free and use the changes in optical properties, such as refractive index, to sense for the binding of the target molecule. This video introduces both label and label-free optical biosensors, demonstrates their use in the laboratory, and shows some applications of the technology.
FAQs
The measured light changes because a fluorescent indicator or an endogenous optical signal responds to a biological event. Fluorescent indicators can link changes in neuronal activity or ion concentrations to altered emitted light, whereas endogenous signals can reflect processes such as blood-flow changes. The resulting intensity variation gives the imaging system a time-resolved signal to analyze.
Indicator-based monitoring relies on a fluorescent signal that represents a selected biological variable, such as neuronal activity or ion concentration. Endogenous optical monitoring instead uses light changes already produced by biological processes, including blood-flow changes. This distinction affects what the recorded signal represents and how researchers relate optical changes to neural or physiological events.
Spatial resolution determines whether measurements can distinguish individual cells, neural circuits, or larger brain regions, while temporal resolution determines how closely the recording follows changes over time. Researchers choose an indicator and imaging method suited to the scale and dynamics of the question. The resulting measurement balances where activity is observed with when it changes.
A typical workflow identifies the biological process to track, selects a compatible fluorescent indicator or endogenous signal, and chooses an imaging method capable of detecting emitted or reflected light. Researchers then record changes over time with cameras or microscopes and relate the optical pattern to neuronal events, ion concentrations, or blood-flow changes.
Researchers apply optical monitoring when they need to examine activity across different levels of neural organization while retaining spatial information. It can support studies of circuit function, sensory processing, disease mechanisms, and responses to stimulation or treatment. The approach is especially useful when the experiment requires observations from individual cells, neural circuits, or broader brain regions.
The recorded optical changes can provide information about neuronal events, ion concentrations, or blood-flow changes, depending on the signal and imaging approach. Because measurements are collected over time, researchers can examine how these processes vary during sensory processing, stimulation, treatment, or disease-related conditions. Interpretation must therefore connect the observed light change with its biological source.