Patent Document ID: 8947510
Application ID: 12999515
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for 3D imaging of a biologic object in an optical tomography system comprising: (a) labeling a subcellular structure of the biological object by introducing at least one nanoparticle-biomarker; (b) positioning the labeled biological object relatively to a microscope objective to present varying angles of view; (c) illuminating the labeled biological object with radiation having wavelengths between 150 nm and 900 nm so that the at least one nanoparticle-biomarker is selected to emit or absorb radiation having wavelengths between 150 and 900 nm, and wherein illuminating employs plasmon resonance energy transfer (PRET), wherein the employment of PRET comprises: (i) using a dark-field microscopy configuration, wherein light scattered at high angles relative to the incident light is collected by the objective lens; and (ii) incorporating into the biological object at least one ensemble of metallic nanoparticles, each ensemble of metallic nanoparticles having at least one substantially identical labeling molecule attached to the surface of substantially each nanoparticle that is a member of the at least one ensemble of metallic nanoparticles; (d) filtering a portion of the produced radiation using a set of filters to produce filtered signals within a set of wavelength bands; (e) sensing the filtered signals transmitted through the labeled biological object and the microscope objective within the set of wavelength bands to produce image data; (f) repeating steps (b) through (e) until a set of image data from varying angles of view has been produced; and (g) forming a plurality of cross-sectional images of the biological object from the set of image data; and (h) reconstructing the plurality of cross-sectional images to form a 3D image of the labeled biological object.