Stimulated Raman fluorescence for enhanced biological imaging

This technology is a hybrid technique that combines Raman spectroscopy with fluorescence microscopy to achieve high sensitivity and chemical specificity and enables all-far-field single-molecule imaging.

Unmet Need: Imaging technique with high sensitivity and chemical specificity

Vibrational-based spectroscopy and microscopy techniques provide detailed chemical information, yet suffer from poor sensitivity due to the intrinsic weakness of vibrational signals. Surface-enhanced and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy boost signal intensity but rely on strong coupling between the sample and metallic nanostructures. This restricts their usage to near-field applications and limits the utility of Raman-based techniques in chemical and biological applications.

The Technology: All-far-field imaging technique with single-molecule resolution

This technology is an all-far-field nonlinear spectroscopy and microscopy technique called stimulated Raman coupled fluorescence (SRCF). SCRF employs electronic pre-resonance stimulated Raman scattering (epr-SRS) to achieve single-molecule sensitivity without relying on coupling to metal nanostructures. The technique is compatible with confocal fluorescence microscopy and uses all far-field excitation and detection. As such, this technology enables sensitive and chemically-specific imaging, which may be useful in a range of chemistry, materials science, biophysics, biophotonics, and biological imaging applications.

Applications:

  • Biological imaging
  • Single-molecule spectroscopy
  • Super-resolution vibrational imaging

Advantages:

  • All-far-field technique
  • High chemical specificity and sensitivity
  • High signal-to-noise ratio
  • Compatible with fluorescence microscopy

Lead Inventor:

Wei Min, Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Issued (US 12,140,540)

Related Publications:

Tech Ventures Reference: