Facilities

LBRC facilities available for collaborations

Optical instrumentation at the Laser Biomedical Research Center is available to collaborators and to users of the resource. Each system below is listed with what it is used for and the optical configuration it runs in.

Collaborating with us

The instruments listed here support collaborative projects with groups inside and outside MIT. Enquiries about access, feasibility, or a joint study are welcome — the fastest route is to describe the measurement you have in mind and the sample you want to measure.

Instruments

Confocal Raman microscope

In vivo cellular and tissue hyperspectral Raman imaging.

A confocal Raman microscope in an inverted geometry, used to record label-free vibrational spectra from cells and tissue and to characterise the composition of biochemical samples. The inverted configuration suits samples held in dishes and on coverslips.

Used for
  • Cellular imaging
  • Tissue imaging
  • Characterisation of biochemical samples
Excitation
785 nm
Objective
40×, 0.95 numerical aperture (NA), air
Geometry
Inverted
Spectral range
0 to 2000 cm⁻¹

Portable Raman system with fibre-optic probe

In-situ monitoring of specimen biochemistry, including non-invasive diagnosis of human disease.

A portable Raman spectrometer coupled to a fibre-optic probe, for measurements that cannot be brought to a microscope. The probe geometry allows spectra to be collected in situ, including from samples in their own containers or environments.

Used for
  • Transdermal analysis of glucose and other blood analytes
  • In-situ characterisation of tissue physiological and pathological states
Excitation
830 nm
Probe
Fibre-optic, 2 mm diameter
Spectral range
0 to 2000 cm⁻¹
Form factor
Portable

Diffraction phase microscope

Label-free, large-area quantitative phase imaging of cellular and tissue specimens based on their refractive index distribution.

A diffraction phase microscope (DPM) for quantitative phase imaging, recovering optical path length across the sample without staining or labelling. Short-wavelength illumination and a high-numerical-aperture water-immersion objective give a lateral resolution near 250 nm across a 300 × 300 µm² field of view.

Used for
  • Label-free monitoring and quantification of cellular and tissue morphological changes
  • Quantification of cellular mechanics from membrane thermal fluctuations
  • Quantification of biophysical markers for blood diseases such as sickle cell disease and malaria
Illumination
415 nm
Objective
20×, 1.0 numerical aperture (NA), water immersion
Lateral resolution
≈250 nm
Axial resolution
≈1.1 µm
Field of view
300 × 300 µm²
Depth of focus
≈1.1 µm
Effective camera magnification
≈80×

Tomocube HT-2H holotomographic microscope

Label-free three-dimensional refractive-index tomography of live cells and tissues.

A commercial holotomographic microscope (Tomocube Inc.) that reconstructs the three-dimensional refractive-index distribution of a sample without labels, resolving subcellular structure in living cells.

Used for
  • Quantify cellular and tissue three-dimensional morphological changes
  • Three-dimensional mapping of cellular and tissue refractive-index variations
Illumination
532 nm
Objective
60×, 1.2 numerical aperture (NA), water immersion
Lateral resolution
110 nm
Axial resolution
345 nm
Field of view
80 µm
Depth of focus
40 µm
Enquiries

Contact Prof. Peter T. C. So (ptso@mit.edu) or Dr. Jeon Woong Kang (jwkang76@mit.edu) to discuss access or a collaboration.