Combined selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) and full-field optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT) for in vivo imaging

Abstract: Selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM), also known as light sheet fluorescence microscopy, provides high specificity through fluorescence labeling. However, it lacks complementary structural information from the surrounding context, which is essential for the comprehensive analysis of biological samples. Here, we present a high-resolution, multimodal imaging system that integrates SPIM with full-field optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT), without requiring modifications to the existing SPIM setup. Both SPIM and FF-OCT offer low phototoxicity and intrinsic optical sectioning, making them well-suited for in vivo imaging. Their shared detection path enables seamless and efficient co-registration of fluorescence and structural data. We demonstrate the functionality of this combined system by performing in vivo imaging of zebrafish larvae.