4. Conclusion

As we have seen, intravital two-photon fluorescence microscopy is a highly interesting imaging tool, providing access to microvascularization parameters in cerebrovascular imaging. These microscopic data, inaccessible to conventional imaging methods (MRI, CT-scan), are an essential complement to the macroscopic data provided by the latter, with a view to establishing a complete mapping of the brain. Although the depths of observation achievable with these methods are currently limited to a few hundred microns, advances in instrumentation should eventually make it possible to extend this limit. A team from Cornell University recently obtained images of the vascularization of the cortex of a mouse to a depth of 1.4 mm, using a laser source capable of exciting a three-photon fluorophore at 1,675 nm