Next Generation: All-In-One In Vivo Scope

Researchers package a fluorescence microscope—including the light and camera—that can image the brain of a freely moving mouse.

Written byKerry Grens

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Mouse cerebellum with purkinje cells (calbindin, green)WIKIMEDIA, SBRANDNER

THE DEVICE: Weighing in at just 1.9 grams, this fluorescence microscope is designed for portability—not just in a pocket, but mounted on the head of a mouse freely able to move around. The scope’s housing, including the lenses, filters, sensors, and light, is glued to a metal frame surgically implanted on the mouse's head. Within the frame is a coverslip, serving as a window pane for viewing the brain.

The microscope's light source is made of a tiny blue light emitting diode (LED) that illuminates fluorescent markers in the brain and sends the images to semiconductor sensors. Several electrical wires carrying power and data run out of the scope to an interface, which connects to a computer.

The microscope is intended to be used for ...

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Meet the Author

Kerry Grens
Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.
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