Nonlinear optical microscopy of articular cartilage

Thin images of living articular cartilage using NLOM may be obtained with (sub-)cellular resolution at varying depths without fixing, sectioning or staining. Extracellular matrical collagen and chondron may be imaged separately in native tissue using spectrally distinct, endogenous, nonlinear optical signals. NLOM was sensitive to macromolecular composition and pathologic changes in articular cartilage matrix. Advances in instrumentation may lead to the application of NLOM to study articular cartilage in vivo.