Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy, which facilitates acquiring specific molecular concentration maps in a non-destructive and label-free manner, is a powerful optical imaging tool for monitoring the dynamics of a small-molecule drug in live cells or tissues. Nevertheless, when the sample concentration is less than tens of millimolar, quantitative measurements using conventional SRS imaging remain difficult because the weak drug signal is overwhelmed by the strong optical background; however, the temporal shaping of optical pulses can be used to overcome this background problem. In this paper I revisit and explain the fundamentals of SRS microscopy, showing an analogy between coherent Raman scattering and spatial diffractive optics. I also briefly review a newly developed SRS microscope with pulse-shaping technology that enables signal detection at a millimolar concentration regime.
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