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Chemical imaging offers critical information to understand the fundamentals in biology and to assist clinical diagnostics. Label-free chemical imaging piques a general interest since it avoids the use of bio-perturbing molecular labels and holds promises to characterize human tissue in vivo. Coherent Raman scattering (CRS), which utilizes lasers to excite the vibrations of molecules, renders new modalities to map chemicals in living samples without the need of labeling and provides significantly improved speed, resolution, and sensitivity compared to spontaneous Raman scattering. Although microscopy systems based on CRS have seen rapid development in the past two decades, remaining challenges, which emerge in diverse aspects, start to impede the continuous advancement of the field. In this perspective, we review the history of CRS microscopy, scrutinize the pros and cons of different modalities, and discuss the current challenges and possible future directions of the field. Infiltration of conceptual and technological ideals from other fields will promote CRS microscopy towards a versatile tool for basic science and medical research.
Zhang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.