Our work aims to advance knowledge on the relationship between trans work dynamics, local structure, and mechanical properties in far-from-equilibrium materials. Visualizing far-from-equilibrium materials such as cytoskeleton networks requires an ability to image dense, three-dimensional samples with comparable image quality throughout the volume of the sample, while causing minimal damage via photobleaching, a technically challenging task that fluorescence light-sheet microscopy is best suited for. Fluorescence light-sheet microscope systems provide excellent optical sectioning capabilities, which allows for imaging of these thick, three-dimensional samples for long time scales with minimal photobleaching.
In particular, the single objective light-sheet system we will present is compatible with traditional slide-mounted samples, making it a very versatile tool. The overwhelming majority of single objective light-sheet guides are written for users with extensive optics experience. To make the complex single objective light-sheet style setup more accessible, this detailed guide provides steps that a user with an entry-level optics course depth of knowledge can follow.
