Multi-Modal optical imaging platform for biology
With the progress of biological investigation, there comes a strong wish or need for imaging biological samples with multi-modality and on different scales.  To meet this need, this project will develop a multi-modal 3D optical imaging platform that images on the multi-scale, from tissues to molecules, by integrating optical coherence tomography (OCT), stimulated emission depletion microscopy (STED), and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS).  Incorporation of structured illumination, adaptive optics and focused engineering will improve spatial resolution, imaging depth, and molecular concentration sensitivity.  The investigated technique will be tested and applied to biology investigation, including but not limited to, tissue and cell recovery in the Zebrafish (as a model organism) after laser damage.  The multi-scale structural and functional image, as well as the dynamics on the protein level provided by this investigation, will potentially reveal tissue and cell recovery mechanisms, and in the long run contribute to the cure of disease along with understanding the mechanisms of tissue damage.  This project will advance the state-of-the-art in optical imaging, and create new links between basic research and biological and clinical applications.