Professor Choi Wonshik (Department of Physics)’s research team in the Institute for Basic Science (IBS)’s Center for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics has successfully developed an optical microscope technology that allows for high-throughput 3D imaging. The breakthrough has been published in the international scientific journal Light: Science & Applications (LSA, IF 17.782) on January 14.

Though deep-tissue imaging is instrumental in neuroscience, it has suffered the drawback of the reduction of resolving power due to tissue-induced optical aberrations, making details that are buried in layers of biological tissue difficult to retrieve. The team’s discovery produces aberration-free 3D imaging through the “time-reversal matrix” that reduces both acquisition time and the need for coverage of input channels.

The technology is to facilitate early diagnosis of multivarious diseases. Professor Seokchan Yoon (Department of Physics), the team’s researcher, commented in an interview with Korea University (KU) that the “development of reflective matrix imaging methods would expand the scope of application of medical bio-optical technology.” The team is currently producing a miniature version of the microscope to make it directly applicable in the medical field.