Multiphoton Microscope Features Imaging Mode and Laser

The unique imaging mode uses multiple laser beams, which enables fast-moving objects, such as cells in the blood stream and other dynamic processes in living tissue to be viewed. The laser has been enhanced with a unit called an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) that produces longer wavelengths of light than those used in other microscopes enabling scientists to look deeper into living tissue than ever before.

The Centenary Institute (Sydney, Australia) developed the multiphoton microscope, the first of its kind in Australia. Representing the cutting edge in medical technology and microscopy, the unique imaging features of the microscope will give scientists access to the workings of living tissues at molecular as well as the cellular level.

Austrian Professor Wolfgang Weninger is one of only a handful of people in the world who specializes in using the multiphoton microscope in the immunology field to view immune responses in real time in living tissue. He will lead a team of scientists at the Centenary Institute in the study of the dynamics of the immune system's response to cancer and infectious diseases.

Prof. Weninger said, "Cancer is still a leading cause of death in Australia. There is a need to develop improved anticancer therapies based on the use of the body's own resources--namely our immune system. This type of microscope is an outstanding tool to study how our bodies fight cancer both in early and advanced stages. If we can learn more about how our immune system attacks cancer cells directly in the context of intact tissues, we hope to develop improved immunotherapies.”


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The Centenary Institute