Overview of the technique
Light sheet microscopy is a fluorescence imaging technique with a growing number of specialised variants, each tailored to specific applications. At Octopus, we use digitally scanned laser light sheets. In this method, a Gaussian laser beam is directed at the sample from a direction perpendicular to the detection axis. The beam is rapidly scanned along the y-axis, much faster than the camera’s exposure time, creating a full plane of illumination that is captured in a single image. By moving the sample through the light sheet, a stack of images can be acquired plane by plane, allowing for 3D reconstruction of the fluorescence signal.
