Nature Communications· 2026Q1
Video-rate volumetric chemical imaging via mid-infrared photothermal optical diffraction tomography
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- 2026year
Short summary
A new technique, video-rate mid-infrared photothermal optical diffraction tomography (MIP-ODT), achieves 19.2 volumes/sec for label-free chemical imaging, enabling real-time tracking of intracellular dynamics like lipid droplets.
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Key points
- Video-rate MIP-ODT achieves 19.2 volumes/sec, a 400x speed increase over previous MIP tomography.
- The system boasts a signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 70 without temporal averaging.
- Demonstrated tracking of lipid droplets in living cells and quantification of anomalous diffusion.
- Enables broadband multi-wavenumber chemical imaging across a 300 cm⁻¹ window within 1 second.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Label-free vibrational microscopy provides chemically specific access to cellular structures, yet quantitative volumetric imaging of intracellular dynamics remains challenging on subsecond timescales. Here, we demonstrate video-rate mid-infrared photothermal optical diffraction tomography (MIP-ODT) by combining high photothermal sensitivity with rapid angular scanning. The system achieves 19.2 volumes per second, nearly 400 times faster than previous MIP tomography implementations, with a signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 70 and no temporal averaging. We track lipid droplets in living cells and quantify anomalous diffusion from three-dimensional trajectories, revealing heterogeneous intracellular transport behaviors obscured in two-dimensional measurements. Rapid mid-infrared wavenumber sweeping further enables broadband multi-wavenumber volumetric chemical imaging across a 300 cm⁻¹ spectral window within 1 s. These results establish MIP-ODT as a platform for high-speed, label-free volumetric chemical imaging of single cells and quantitative investigation of dynamic intracellular organization.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Nature Communications, 2026 · DOI ↗
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BiophysicsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology