Novel microscopy system for imaging brain tissue structure and function

The authors developed a novel microscope system to image changes in light scatter that occur within a hippocampal slice. The system is based on Mie scatter theory predictions for light scatter as well as empirical observations. The authors evaluated the imaging system with two types of samples, a thin layer of microspheres, radius 450 nm, suspended in water and a brain tissue slice. The variation of the dilution of the microspheres revealed two regimes in which the system responds differently. The authors believe the transition from one regime to the other occurs when single scatter begins to dominate. The authors also tested the system on 350 micron thick hippocampal slices. They detected increases in light scatter of up to 50% in 100 /spl mu/M NMDA treated slices. Thus, optical scatter imaging captures changes in brain tissue morphology that occur with brain injury.