The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics, has created a gel with 0.3%-0.5% carbomer 940 which is easily used as an imaging immersion medium for confocal and two photon fluorescence emission microscopy and second harmonic generation imaging. This thick, but transparent, gel can be layered on tissue for microscopic analysis and retain the connection between the objective and tissue at a large working distance without supplementary retention. The thickness of the gel allows for optimal positioning on tissue for imaging in the living animal, which eliminates the frustrations associated with imaging using thinner gels and fluid.

This thick gel can be used by microscopists and pathologists for imaging tissue in a living animal. Also, this gel can be used for skin screening as an alternative to biopsy for image analysis of tissue structure, thus saving diagnosis time and patient discomfort.