In Vivo Imaging System / Microscope

In vivo imaging is the non-invasive visualization of living organisms for research or diagnostic purposes. Generally speaking, this method can be divided in two key areas: anatomical/morphological imaging and molecular imaging. In molecular imaging cellular function or molecular processes are visualized, normally using biomarkers. While in anatomical imaging no marker is used and visualization is based on the intrinsic properties of the tissues and organs being observed, such as the attenuation of X-rays in the case of computed tomography, molecular imaging very often uses biomarkers labeled with bioluminescence or fluorescence. In vivo imagers, sometimes called preclinical imaging systems, are imaging systems that look deep into the tissues of living subjects. The benefits of this type of system are that it gives the most complete picture of the biological effects of a treatment or disease progression and the animal is kept alive allowing future analysis on the same subject.