Figure 2.

Intravital multiphoton microscopy (MPM) imaging of the microstructures in the sections of the normal cochlea. (A) A schematic cross section of the cochlea showing the three compartments (the scala vestibuli, scala tympani, and scala media), which are separated by two elastic partitions: Reissner’s membrane and the basilar membrane (BM). (B) A micrograph of a 2-mm-thick cryosection slide under light microscopy (200×) does not show the cochlear microstructures. (C) The intravital MPM image without any staining clearly shows the different cochlear microstructures. (D) A schematic of the organ of Corti, which is located above the BM, showing the inner and outer hair cells, as well as hairs attached to the flap called the tectorial membrane, which sits over the organ of Corti. (E) A micrograph of a 2-mm thick cryosection slide under light microscopy (400×). (F) At a higher magnification (400×), the intravital MPM image shows the organ of Corti in detail with green-endogenous autofluorescence and second harmonic generation.