Adaptive harmonic generation microscopy of mammalian embryos.

Adaptive optics is implemented in a harmonic generation microscope using a wavefront sensorless correction scheme. Both the second- and third-harmonic intensity signals are used as the optimization metric. Aberration correction is performed to compensate both system- and specimen-induced aberrations by using an efficient optimization routine based upon Zernike polynomial modes. Images of live mouse embryos show an improved signal level and resolution