Optical coherence microscopy of living cells and bioengineered tissue dynamics in high‐resolution cross‐section. Issue 3 (6th November 2015) - Hasegawa, Akiyuki
Abstract: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a valuable tool in the cross‐sectional observation/analysis of three‐dimensional (3‐D) biological tissues, and that histological observation is important clinically. However, the resolution of the technology is approximately 10–20 μm. In this study, optical coherence microscopy (OCM), a tomographic system combining OCT technology with a microscopic technique, was constructed for observing cells individually with a resolution at the submicrometer level. Cells and 3‐D tissues fabricated by cell sheet technology were observed by OCM. Importantly, the cell nuclei and cytoplasm could be clearly distinguished, and the time‐dependent dynamics of cell‐sheet tissues could be observed in detail. Additionally, the 3‐D migration of cells in the bioengineered tissue was also detected using OCM and metal‐labeled cells. Bovine aortic endothelial cells, but not NIH3T3 murine embryonic skin fibroblasts, actively migrated within the 3‐D tissues. This study showed that the OCM system would be a valuable tool in the fields of cell biology, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 481–488, 2017.