PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Nylk, Jonathan
AU  - McCluskey, Kaley
AU  - Preciado, Miguel A.
AU  - Mazilu, Michael
AU  - Yang, Zhengyi
AU  - Gunn-Moore, Frank J.
AU  - Aggarwal, Sanya
AU  - Tello, Javier A.
AU  - Ferrier, David E. K.
AU  - Dholakia, Kishan
TI  - Light-sheet microscopy with attenuation-compensated propagation-invariant beams
AID  - 10.1126/sciadv.aar4817
DP  - 2018 Apr 01
TA  - Science Advances
PG  - eaar4817
VI  - 4
IP  - 4
4099  - http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/4/eaar4817.short
4100  - http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/4/eaar4817.full
SO  - Sci Adv2018 Apr 01; 4
AB  - Scattering and absorption limit the penetration of optical fields into tissue. We demonstrate a new approach for increased depth penetration in light-sheet microscopy: attenuation-compensation of the light field. This tailors an exponential intensity increase along the illuminating propagation-invariant field, enabling the redistribution of intensity strategically within a sample to maximize signal and minimize irradiation. A key attribute of this method is that only minimal knowledge of the specimen transmission properties is required. We numerically quantify the imaging capabilities of attenuation-compensated Airy and Bessel light sheets, showing that increased depth penetration is gained without compromising any other beam attributes. This powerful yet straightforward concept, combined with the self-healing properties of the propagation-invariant field, improves the contrast-to-noise ratio of light-sheet microscopy up to eightfold across the entire field of view in thick biological specimens. This improvement can significantly increase the imaging capabilities of light-sheet microscopy techniques using Airy, Bessel, and other propagation-invariant beam types, paving the way for widespread uptake by the biomedical community.