In vivo molecular spectroscopic imaging is not a simple addition of a spectrometer to a microscope. Innovations are needed to break the physical limits in sensitivity, depth, speed and resolution perspectives. I will present our most recent advances in modality development, biological application, and clinical translation. My talk will focus on the development of mid-infrared photothermal microscope for depth-resolved vibrational imaging of living cells (Science Advances, in press), the discovery of a metabolic signature in cancer stem cells by hyperspectral stimulated Raman scattering imaging (Cell Stem Cell, in press), and the development of an intravascular vibrational photoacoustic catheter for label-free sensing of lipid laden plaques (Scientific Report 2016, 6:25236).
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