High-speed 3D imaging flow cytometry with optofluidic spatial transformation

Three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence imaging is important to accurately capture and understand biological structures and phenomena. However, because of its slow acquisition speed, it was difficult to implement 3D fluorescence imaging for imaging flow cytometry. Especially, modern flow cytometers operate at a flow velocity of 1-10 m/s, and no 3D fluorescence imaging technique was able to capture cells at such high velocity. Here, we present a high-speed 3D fluorescence imaging technique in which a set of optical cross sections of a cell is captured within a single frame of a camera by combining strobe light-sheet excitation and optofluidic spatial transformation. Using this technique, we demonstrated 3D fluorescence imaging of cells flowing at a velocity of over 10 m/s, which is the fastest to our knowledge. Such technology can allow integration of 3D imaging with flow systems of common flow cytometers and cell sorters.