Time-lapsed, large-volume, high-resolution intravital imaging for tissue-wide analysis of single cell dynamics

Pathologists rely on microscopy to diagnose disease states in tissues and organs. They utilize both high-resolution, high-magnification images to interpret the staining and morphology of individual cells, as well as low-magnification overviews to give context and location to these cells. Intravital imaging is a powerful technique for studying cells and tissues in their native, live environment and can yield sub-cellular resolution images similar to those used by pathologists. However, technical limitations prevent the straightforward acquisition of low-magnification images during intravital imaging, and they are hence not typically captured. The serial acquisition, mosaicking, and stitching together of many high-resolution, high-magnification fields of view is a technique that overcomes these limitations in fixed and ex vivo tissues. The technique however, has not to date been widely applied to intravital imaging as movements caused by the living animal induce image distortions that are difficult to compensate for computationally. To address this, we have developed techniques for the stabilization of numerous tissues, including extremely compliant tissues, that have traditionally been extremely difficult to image. We present a novel combination of these stabilization techniques with mosaicked and stitched intravital imaging, resulting in a process we call Large-Volume High-Resolution Intravital Imaging (LVHR-IVI). The techniques we present are validated and make large volume intravital imaging accessible to any lab with a multiphoton microscope.