Single-cell photoacoustic thermometry

A novel photoacoustic thermometric method is presented for simultaneously imaging cells and sensing their temperature. With 3 seconds per frame imaging speed, a temperature resolution of 0.2 °C was achieved in a photo-thermal cell heating experiment. Compared to other approaches, the photoacoustic thermometric method has the advantage of not requiring custom-developed temperature-sensitive biosensors. This feature should facilitate the conversion of single-cell thermometry into a routine lab tool and make it accessible to a much broader biological research community.