Scattering-enabled epi-quantitative phase imaging reveals subcellular detail in organoids and deep mouse brains

Abstract

Imaging subcellular structures deep within thick, turbid biological tissues remains fundamentally limited by light scattering, which distorts optical wavefronts and degrades contrast, resolution, and sensitivity. These limitations hinder quantitative interrogation of complex biological systems where resolving dynamic microenvironments at subcellular resolution is critical. Here, we introduce scattering-enabled epi-quantitative phase imaging (SEEQPI), a label-free method that leverages tissue scattering and provides subcellular spatial resolution, nanometer-scale spatiotemporal phase sensitivity, and millimeter-scale imaging depth in murine brains. SEEQPI is enabled by common-path phase-shifting confocal epi-interferometry with near-infrared illumination and the scattering-enabled phase reconstruction algorithm. SEEQPI requires low illumination power, minimizing tissue damage while enabling high-speed imaging of biological dynamics. We demonstrate simultaneous, colocalized imaging of subcellular structures with SEEQPI, third-harmonic generation, and three-photon fluorescence microscopy in liver cancer spheroids and in vivo mouse brains. SEEQPI enables quantitative, longitudinal studies of dry mass dynamics in intact, living biological systems.