Noninvasive Photoacoustic Microscopy of Living Cells in Two and Three Dimensions through Enhancement by a Metabolite Dye

Rich in contrast: A new type of contrast agent, 1-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-3,5-diphenylformazan (MTT formazan), is reported for nondestructive and nontoxic imaging of living cells by photoacoustic microscopy (see picture). The contrast mechanism is general and can be applied to essentially all types of metabolically active cells, including stem cells and tumor cells. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.