Microscopy is the workhorse of contemporary life science research, enabling morphological and chemical inspection of living tissue with ever-increasing spatial and temporal resolution. Even though modern microscopes are genuine marvels of engineering, minute deviations from ideal imaging conditions will still lead to optical aberrations that rapidly degrade imaging quality. A mismatch between the refractive indices of the sample and its immersion medium, deviations in the thickness of sample holders or cover glasses, the effects of aging on the instrument—such deviations can manifest themselves in the form of spherical aberration and focusing errors. Also, particularly for deep tissue imaging, an essential tool in neurobiology research, an inhomogeneous refractive index of the sample and its complex surface shape can lead to additional higher order aberrations.
Click here for original story, A cascaded dual deformable phase plate wavefront modulator enables direct AO integration with existing microscopes
Source: Phys.org