A world first! Success

my country's independently developed two-photon microscope on the space station obtains the first three-dimensional image of astronauts' skin

The Shenzhou 15 astronaut crew recently used the space station two-photon microscope independently developed by China to carry out an on-orbit verification experiment and achieved success. The reporter learned from the space station two-photon microscope project team on the 27th that this is the first time in the world that a two-photon microscope has been used to obtain three-dimensional images of the epidermis and superficial dermis of astronauts' skin during space flight , providing a new tool for future on-orbit health monitoring research of astronauts.

The picture shows the Shenzhou 15 astronaut crew using the space station's two-photon microscope in orbit (Photo provided by the research team)

Two-photon microscopy is a nonlinear optical imaging technology based on two-photon absorption and fluorescence excitation, with the characteristics of high resolution, strong three-dimensional tomography, and large imaging depth. As the traditional two-photon microscope system is huge and cannot meet the stringent requirements of on-orbit experimental equipment for reliability, volume, weight, shock resistance, and vibration performance, the international community has not been able to achieve on-orbit operation and application of two-photon microscopy technology on the space station.

In 2017, Academician Cheng Heping, director of the National Center for Biomedical Imaging Sciences at Peking University, led a team to successfully develop a miniaturized two-photon microscope with a probe weighing only 2.2 grams, laying the foundation for the development of the space station two-photon microscope. In 2019, with the strong support of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the team of Cheng Heping and Wang Aimin from Peking University, the team of Li Yingxian from the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, and the team of Feng Lishuang from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics jointly established a space station two-photon microscope project team with Cheng Heping as the general leader. The project team overcame many technical difficulties in miniaturizing microscopes and successfully developed a space station two-photon microscope in September 2022.

The picture shows the Shenzhou 15 astronaut crew using the space station's two-photon microscope in orbit (Photo provided by the research team)

Two-photon microscopy is a nonlinear optical imaging technology based on two-photon absorption and fluorescence excitation, with the characteristics of high resolution, strong three-dimensional tomography, and large imaging depth. As the traditional two-photon microscope system is huge and cannot meet the stringent requirements of on-orbit experimental equipment for reliability, volume, weight, shock resistance, and vibration performance, the international community has not been able to achieve on-orbit operation and application of two-photon microscopy technology on the space station.

In 2017, Academician Cheng Heping, director of the National Center for Biomedical Imaging Sciences at Peking University, led a team to successfully develop a miniaturized two-photon microscope with a probe weighing only 2.2 grams, laying the foundation for the development of the space station two-photon microscope. In 2019, with the strong support of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the team of Cheng Heping and Wang Aimin from Peking University, the team of Li Yingxian from the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, and the team of Feng Lishuang from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics jointly established a space station two-photon microscope project team with Cheng Heping as the general leader. The project team overcame many technical difficulties in miniaturizing microscopes and successfully developed a space station two-photon microscope in September 2022.

The picture shows the imaging of the surface layer of astronauts' skin by the two-photon microscope in the space station (Photo provided by the research team)

"The two-photon microscope on the space station is an important achievement that reflects the manufacturing level of high-end precision optical instruments in my country." Cheng Heping introduced that this on-orbit verification experiment achieved many firsts, such as the world's first normal operation of a two-photon microscope on orbit; the first normal operation of a femtosecond laser on orbit in China; and the first on-orbit observation of astronauts' cell structure and metabolic composition information. "These not only provide new tools and methods for conducting on-orbit health monitoring research on astronauts at the cellular and molecular levels, but also provide important technical means for conducting brain science research using the Chinese space station platform in the future."

Source: Xinhua News Agency