Imaging of biological tissues with pixel-level analysis of second-order susceptibility

We discuss the recent advances in the development and applications of second-order susceptibility as a contrast mechanism in optical microscopy for biological tissues. We review nonlinear optical methods and approaches for differentiation of tissue structures and discrimination of normal and pathological skin tissues, which have been demonstrated for the potential use in clinical diagnosis. In addition, the potential of second-order susceptibility imaging, encompassing applications in differentiating various types of collagen molecules for clinical diagnosis, is demonstrated. Finally, we discuss future development and application of this technique.