SKM 2023 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 28: Poster Session II

BP 28.1: Poster

Thursday, March 30, 2023, 18:00–20:00, P2/EG

X-Ray Phase-Contrast Tomography Imaging of Single Cells Using an Optical Stretcher — •Jan-Philipp Burchert¹, Roland Stange², Madleen Busse³, Tim Salditt¹, and Sarah Köster¹ — ¹Institute for X-Ray Physics, University of Göttingen — ²RS Zelltechnik GmbH, Schöllnach — ³Department of Physics and Munich School of Biomedical Engineering, Technical University of Munich

X-rays penetrate deep into matter and allow us to image structures with high spatial resolution, which makes them attractive for investigating individual biological cells. Here, we combine x-ray phase-contrast tomography with an x-ray compatible optical stretcher to image single cells in solution, thus in their physiological environment, and avoid the need for freezing, drying or embedding of the samples. The cells are trapped in a contact-free manner in a fixed position by the optical stretcher and are probed by the x-ray beam. The microfluidic flow sets the cells in slow rotational motion, which enables tomographic imaging. We apply this combination of techniques to unfixed and fixed NIH3T3 fibroblasts, which are partially stained with an x-ray contrast agent. The experimental data show that we can acquire images of these cells with our setup. Moreover, the comparison of the different preparations and two beam energies will improve the image quality in future experiments.