Conference Agenda

The introduction of genetically expressed photosensitive proteins to optically control and monitor neuronal activity has opened new avenues for minimally invasive investigation of the brain, giving rise to the field of optogenetics.

Fully harnessing the potential of these tools has required the development of dedicated optical strategies. In particular, the use of two-photon infrared excitation combined with light-shaping techniques has enabled the precise manipulation of neuronal circuits in living tissue.

In this talk, I will introduce methods for tailoring infrared laser beams through wavefront modulation and temporal shaping of femtosecond pulses, allowing targeted excitation of single or multiple neurons within large volumes, deep inside scattering tissue. I will then highlight recent advances aimed at improving the speed and efficiency of neuronal activity manipulation, achieving kilohertz-rate interrogation of large neuronal populations. Finally, I will showcase applications of these approaches, focusing on in vivo mapping of neuronal connections, as a step toward fully optical interrogation of brain structure and function.

This work presents an integrated, high-throughput microscope on a

chip designed for rapid and automated circulating tumor cells imaging based on

cytomorphological features. The system employs a modified time-stretch imag-

ing technique, utilizing a single nanosecond laser pulse split into a sequence of

temporally and spatially separated pulses to illuminate the whole cell at different

moments. Fabricated using femtosecond laser micromachining, the device inte-

grates optical circuits, delay lines, and a microfluidic chip, enabling high-speed

image acquisition with a single-pixel detector. The system is validated using

calibration beads and tumor cells, demonstrating high resolution and stability.

Fully compatible with machine learning algorithms, this platform represents a

scalable, cost-effective solution for advancing real-time liquid biopsy and can-

cer diagnostics.

OptoRheo is a new microscopy platform that allows for live imaging of cells in 3D cultures over long-time courses, combined with micromechanical sensing of the material local to the cells. This is achieved by combining light sheet microscopy, multiplane imaging, optical trapping, and passive particle tracking micro-rheology in a single optical platform. A novel light sheet configuration allows cells to remain undisturbed during imaging, with no dipping objectives or sample scanning involved, allowing delicate samples to grow on the microscope stage over several days. This talk will demonstrate the capabilities of OptoRheo by studying two different cell culture systems, cell cultures grown in hydrogel and spheroid samples.

Wide-field imaging Mueller polarimetry has already demonstrated its potential for the accurate, non-contact, and cost-effective optical diagnosis of tissue in such diverse fields as gastroenterology, gynaecology, obstetrics, neurosurgery and digital histology. The recent developments and perspectives on translating this technique to clinics will be discussed, as well as the additional possibilities for health risks identification and management.

Fast and sensitive detector arrays make Image Scanning Microscopy (ISM) the natural successor of

confocal microscopy. Indeed, ISM enables super-resolution at an excellent signal-to-noise ratio. Optimizing

photon collection requires large detectors and so more out-of-focus light is collected. Nonetheless, the ISM

dataset inherently contains information on the axial position of the fluorescence emitters. We exploit such information

to directly invert the corresponding physical model with s2ISM, a maximum-likelihood algorithm

that reassigns the signal in the three dimensions, improving the signal-to-background ratio (SBR) and resolution.

Those kinds of algorithms show semi-convergent behaviour concerning the loss function of the problem

along the iteration routine. We regularize our s2ISM algorithm through inherent end deep-learning denoisers,

letting users analyze data with SNR levels that before were deemed to be unuseful in specimen structure or

dynamic revealings.