bioimagesUnknownEmily D. Coscohttps://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-BIAD27bioimageshttps://gitlab.com/brunslab/ccdaExperiment 1Experiment 2OrganizationExperiment 10Experiment 11Experiment 9Experiment 7Experiment 8Experiment 5Experiment 6Experiment 3Experiment 4Emily D. CoscoEllen M. SlettenOliver T. BrunsfalseShortwave infrared polymethine fluorophores matched to excitation lasers enable non-invasive, multicolour in vivo imaging in real timeHigh-resolution, multiplexed experiments are a staple in cellular imaging. Analogous experiments in animals are challenging, however, due to substantial  scattering and autofluorescence in tissue at visible (350–700?nm) and near-infrared (700–1,000?nm) wavelengths. Here, we enable real-time, non-invasive multicolour imaging experiments in animals through the design of optical contrast agents for the shortwave infrared (SWIR, 1,000–2,000?nm) region and complementary advances in imaging technologies. We developed tunable, SWIR-emissive flavylium polymethine dyes and established relationships between structure and photophysical properties for this class of bright SWIR contrast agents. In parallel, we designed an imaging system with variable near-infrared/SWIR excitation and single-channel det2020-10-03T00:00:00Z2023-04-07T19:21:56.564Z2020-09-08T11:02:12ZS-BIAD27