A team over at Germany’s Helmholtz Zentrum München, led by Dr. Vasilis Ntziachristos, has created a new technique for imaging relatively large and thick biological samples.  Using lasers and an ultrasound machine, they can examine the detailed structure of an organism (this first test used a zebra fish) and create a complex 3-D map.

Unlike a microscope that detects light, this new system uses an ultrasound machine to detect minute disturbances in the tissue caused by the laser’s ability to affect the temperature of its target.  In this case, that target is a fluorescent dye injected into the subject.  After the data has been collected and analyzed, a coherent 3-D image can be constructed.