Selective plane illumination microscopy with a light sheet of uniform thickness formed by an electrically tunable lens

Light sheet microscopy is a powerful technique for rapid, three-dimensional fluorescence imaging of large specimen such as drosophila and zebrafish embryos. Yet, beam divergence results in a loss of axial resolution at the periphery of the light sheet. Here, we demonstrate how an electrically tunable lens can be utilized to maintain the minimal, diffraction-limited thickness of the light sheet over a wide field of view (>600 µm) at high frame rates (40 fps). This mode of operation is necessary for the application of fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy in images. Microsc. Res. Tech. 81:924-928, 2018.