Scientists at the Salk Institute in the United States have invented a wearable microscope that can generate high-resolution real-time images of mouse spinal cord activity in previously inaccessible areas. Two papers published in Nature Communications and Nature Biotechnology detail this technological advance, helping researchers better understand the neural basis of sensation and motion in health and disease settings, such as chronic pain, itching, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or multiple sclerosis. The spinal cord acts as a messenger, transmitting signals between the brain and body to regulate everything from breathing to movement. Although the spinal cord is known to play a crucial role in transmitting pain signals, technology has limited scientists' understanding of this process at the cellular level. The newly developed wearable microscope is divided into two parts, with a width of about 7 and 14 millimeters (approximately the width of the little finger or human spinal cord), which can provide real-time high-resolution, high-contrast multicolor imaging in previously inaccessible spinal areas. This new technology can be combined with micro prism implants, which are small reflective glass elements placed near the target tissue area. Microprisms increase imaging depth, allowing researchers to observe previously inaccessible cells for the first time. It also allows simultaneous imaging of cells at different depths with minimal interference to the tissue. With this new microscope, research teams can use this technology to collect new information about the central nervous system, especially imaging astrocytes and non astroglial cells in the spinal cord, as their early work showed that these cells were accidentally involved in pain management. Research has found that squeezing a mouse's tail activates astrocytes, which send coordination signals between spinal cord segments. The ability to visualize the time and location of pain signals and the cells involved in the process will enable researchers to test and design therapeutic interventions that will revolutionize pain research. The team has begun studying how neuronal and non neuronal activity in the spinal cord changes under different pain conditions, and how various treatments can control abnormal cell activity. [Editor in Chief Circle] This device created by the Salk Institute allows people to observe unprecedented signal patterns occurring in the spinal cord. In other words, until now, other high-resolution technologies have not been able to match this speed, and naturally cannot "see" the neural activities related to regional sensation and motion in organisms. In the long run, this new technology has fundamentally changed the possibility for scientists to study the central nervous system, thereby changing people's understanding and treatment of pain. (Liao Xinshe)