Special Issue "Spectral Imaging at the Microscale and Beyond"

Guest Editor
Dr. Jesse Greener
Département de chimie, Pavillon A.-Vachon, 1207, Université Laval, 1045, avenue de la médecine, Québec G1V 0A6, Canada
Website: http://www.chm.ulaval.ca/prof_greenerj.html
E-Mail: jesse.greener@chm.ulaval.ca
Phone: +1 418 656 7157
Fax: +1 418 656 7916
Interests: microfluidics; analytical chemistry; spectroscopy; imaging; biomaterials; nanomaterials; green energy; wastewater treatment

Dear Colleagues,

We dedicate this special issue of Sensors to innovative and emerging approaches to spectral imaging at the microscale (less than 1mm) or smaller. We welcome novel, high-quality submissions ranging from demonstrations of new techniques to the utilization of spectral imaging for studies in biology, chemistry, materials, engineering and more. In the case that authors wish to explore the relevancy of their proposed topics, we encourage communication with the guest editor and Sensors staff in advance of submission.

Dr. Jesse Greener
Guest Editor

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs).

• spectroscopy
• broad-band
• microscopy
• confocal
• mapping
• imaging
• spectral imaging
• confocal spectroscopy
• multispectral imaging
• chemical imaging
• imaging spectroscopy
• multi-band imaging

Title: Living Matter Observations with a Novel Hyperspectral Supercontinuum Confocal Microscope for VIS to Near-IR Reflectance Spectroscopy
Authors: Francesca R. Bertani ¹, Luisa Ferrari ¹, Valentina Mussi ¹, Stefano Selci ^1,*, Elisabetta Botti ² and Antonio Costanzo ³
Affiliations: ¹ Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via del Fosso del Cavaliere 100, Rome, 00133, Italy; E-Mail: Stefano.Selci@isc.cnr.it
² Dermatology Department, University of Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Roma, Italy
³ Dermatology Unit - NESMOS Department , Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Abstract: The spectroscopic imaging capability of a new reflectance laser scanning confocal system is shown on living cells. A broad range hyper-spectroscopic microscope fed by a supercontinuum laser source and equipped with an almost achromatic optical layout is illustrated  by detailed  explanation of the design, implementation and data. The real peculiarity of this instrument, a confocal spectroscopic instrument capable of high resolution reflectance data in the VIS-IR spectral range from about 500nm to 2.5m, is the possibility of acquire spectral data at every physical point as defined by lateral coordinates, X and Y, as well as at a depth coordinate, Z, as obtained by the confocal optical sectioning advantage. Therefore, with this apparatus we collect each single scanning point as a whole spectrum by combining two linear spectral detectors arrays, one CCD for the visible range, and an InGaAs infrared array, both combined at the sensor output channel of the home made instrument. This microscope has been developed for biomedical analysis of human skin and other similar applications. Results are shown illustrating time points of cutaneous cells (human keratinocytes) undergoing UV light-induced apoptosis. A complete spectroscopic fingerprinting of samples at microscopic level is shown possible by combining statistical analysis on raw data and analytical reflectance models based on the Abelés matrix transfer methods.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: A MultiSpectral Imaging Microscope System for Imaging of Neuronal Myelin Loss, without Tissue Labeling
Authors: Eleftheria Vazgiouraki^1,2,†, Vassilis Papadakis^2,†,#, Ioannis Charalampopoulos¹, Paschalis Efstathopoulos¹, Costas Fotakis², Achille Gravanis^1,2
Affiliations:¹ Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Voutes Campus, Heraklion, Crete, GR-71003, Greece; E-Mails: eltha07@gmail.com (E.V.) gharalab@med.uoc.gr (I.C.); pefstatho@gmail.com (P.E.), gravanis@med.uoc.gr (A.G.)
² Institute of Electronic Structure and LASER (I.E.S.L.), Foundation for Research and Technology, Hellas (FO.R.T.H.), Nikolaou Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton GR-70013 Heraklion, Crete, Greece; E-Mail: billyp@iesl.forth.gr (V.P.) Tel.: +30-2810-391267 Fax: +30-2810-391318
^† These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: A new portable multispectral imaging system (IRIS) connected to a commercial microscope is herein presented. The imaging system is capable of acquiring images of high resolution (5MPixels) ranging from 350 nm up to 1200 nm.The system consists of a monochrome CMOS sensor and a robust filter changing system with 30 interference filters, covering the sensitivity range of the detector. The acquisition software has been developed in “LabView” programming language allowing easy handling and modification by end-users. In the present work, the system connected to a commercial microscope is evaluated on a series of sections derived from mice spinal cord with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an experimental model widely used for studying multiple sclerosis. Myelin loss predominates in many neurological disorders. Our system and method allows imaging, with high spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio, of local areas with severe loss of myelin without the need of tissue labeling. This communication aims to present the system, as well as, its pilot use and advantages to the imaging of myelin loss in correlation to conventional applied diagnostic methods (wide field and confocal fluorescence microscopy). The derived data demonstrate the satisfactory use of the Multi Spectral Imaging Microscope system and method for characterization of demyelination in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.
Keywords: spectral imaging; microscopy; EAE; wide-field microscope; confocal microscope; neuronal degeneration