Optical coherence microscopy for fast intravital imaging of airways in mice and humans with subcellular resolution

The study of airway morphology and function with subcellular resolution in animals and humans in vivo has been hampered by the lack of suitable imaging techniques. To overcome this problem we developed optical coherence microscopy (OCM) to image the airways of mice and humans with high spatiotemporal resolution. Images were recorded with an OCM equipped with a supercontinuum light source and a 400nm broadband spectrometer, providing a resolution around 1 µm. Frame rates were between 50 and 150/s at field of view up to 2 mm. Imaging of the intact murine trachea was performed in anesthetized spontaneously breathin…