Confocal Bioluminescence Imaging for Living Tissues with a Caged Substrate of Luciferin

Fluorescence imaging can elucidate morphological organization and coordinal networks, but its background luminescence degrades the image contrast. Our confocal bioluminescence imaging system uses a luciferase caged substrate, with light passing through multipinhole arrays, causing bioluminescence at a focal plane. After a charge-coupled device camera captures luminescence, the imaging system acquires confocal images of multilayered cells with depth information, supporting quantitative analysis of spatial cellular localization in living tissues.