Lens-free Dual-color Fluorescent CMOS Image Sensor for Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Imaging

Citation

Hee, Wan Shen, Kiyotaka Sasagawa, Aiki Kameyama, Ayaka Kimura, Makito Haruta, Takashi Tokuda, and Jun Ohta. “Lens-Free Dual-Color Fluorescent CMOS Image Sensor for Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Imaging.” Sensors and Materials, vol. 31, no. 8, 2019, pp. 2579–94.

Keywords

• lens-free
• sensor
• CMOS image sensor
• hybrid filter
• Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)
• fluorescence imaging

Brief

This article describes a newly developed lens-free dual-color CMOS image sensor, which has an excitation light extinction ratio of approximately −57 dB and is capable of simultaneously detecting cyan and yellow fluorescent lights, and its potential application in studying FRET activity.

Summary

A lens-free, dual-color, bio-imaging system was developed for Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) imaging, utilizing a CMOS image sensor with a hybrid filter1. The system simultaneously detects cyan and yellow fluorescent light, enabling the study of FRET and its application in investigating diseases like cancer. The hybrid filter, composed of interference and absorption filters, effectively blocks excitation light and transmits the desired fluorescent light. The article highlights the importance of the hybrid filter design in achieving a high excitation light extinction ratio, essential for fluorescence imaging. Additionally, the researchers confirmed the system's operation and capabilities through imaging two-color fluorescent microbeads, demonstrating the system's ability to distinguish between different fluorescent signals. This lens-free system offers a smaller, more compact alternative to conventional fluorescence microscopes and has potential applications in in vitro and in vivo FRET imaging.