Investigation on impulsive stimulated Brillouin microscopy for high-speed elastography in hydrogel

In the life sciences, mechanical properties of cells can be used as a diagnostic tool for breast cancer or liver fibrosis, but current techniques require long integration times. The promising impulsive stimulated Brillouin scattering microscopy is an all-optical approach allowing for both a non-invasive and high-resolution measurement. The study reveals that maximizing pulse energy and pulse width achieves high SNR and fast image acquisition, but caution is necessary to stay below the phototoxicity threshold. Imaging at a 10 kHz repetition rate with 20 averages yields good SNR and an imaging speed of 2 ms/pixel, with potential for improvement. A new technique using asymmetric pump focus shows promise in increasing the lateral resolution.