MICRO-SPECTROSCOPY OF BIO-ASSEMBLIES AT THE SINGLE CELL LEVEL

Jeslin Kera^1,2, Debopam Chakrabarti², Alfons Schulte¹

1Physics Department, 2Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando

Confocal absorption microscopy has the benefits of requiring no labels and low light intensity for excitation while providing a signal from the contrast generated by the attenuation of propagating light due to absorption. This enables spatially resolved measurements of single live cells and bio-molecules in nano-liter solutions. We present experiments on red blood cells and model systems over the spectral range from the near-infrared to the ultraviolet. The spectral characterization of bio-assemblies with spatial resolution at the cellular level (1-2 microns) will be discussed.