UC San Diego

Miniature epifluorescent microscopy has enabled functional imaging of the central nervous system in awake, freely-moving animals; this dissertation describes work on three such devices. Using the Salk Miniscope, our lab was first to demonstrate spinal cord imaging in freely-behaving mice. Gargantua, a color-corrected miniature microscope, has demonstrated three-color imaging with improved resolution, contrast, and working distance. Odin, a design for a mouse-borne miniature mesoscope, is expected to image a 3.84mm x 2.88mm field of view with a 0.6μm PSF.