Assessing cell viability with dynamic optical coherence microscopy

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Cellular Metabolism Imaging
• Cancer Research

Background:

• Accurate cell viability assessment is crucial across research disciplines.
• Existing optical methods using fluorescent dyes present limitations in reliability and tissue penetration.
• Dynamic optical coherence microscopy (dOCM) offers label-free contrast based on cellular metabolic changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare label-free dOCM contrast with traditional viability dyes.
• To demonstrate dOCM's capability in distinguishing live from dead cells in complex biological samples.
• To establish the correlation between dOCM live contrast and cellular metabolic state.

Main Methods:

• Utilized dynamic optical coherence microscopy (dOCM) for label-free imaging.
• Compared dOCM contrast with standard viability dyes in biological samples.
• Performed metabolic imaging using optical redox ratio in primary mouse liver tissue.

Main Results:

• dOCM successfully distinguished live from dead cells in murine syngeneic tumors, a novel finding.
• A strong correlation was observed between dOCM live contrast and the optical redox ratio in liver tissue.
• Label-free dOCM provides reliable contrast reflecting cellular metabolic status.

Conclusions:

• dOCM is a promising label-free imaging tool for assessing cell viability in research settings.
• This technique can be applied to evaluate the efficacy of various cancer therapies, including immuno-oncology and chemotherapy.
• dOCM offers a new pathway for analyzing live tumor tissues without exogenous labels.