 |
|
The sound of light: Innovative technology shatters the barriers of modern light microscopy
July 01, 2009Researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technische Universität München are using a combination of light and ultrasound to visualize fluorescent proteins that are seated several centimeters deep into living tissue. In the past, even modern technologies have failed to produce high-resolution fluorescence images from this depth because of the strong scattering of light. In the Nature Photonics journal, the Munich researchers describe how they can reveal genetic expression within live fly larvae and fish by "listening to light". In the future this technology may facilitate the examination of tumors or coronary vessels in humans.
Since the dawn of the microscope scientists have been using light to scrutinize thin sections of tissue to ascertain whether they are healthy or diseased or to investigate cell function. However, the penetration limits for this kind of examination lie between half a millimeter and one millimeter of tissue. In thicker layers light is diffused so strongly that all useful details are obscured.
Together with his research team, Professor Vasilis Ntziachristos, director of the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging of the Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health and chair for biological imaging at the Technische Universität München, has now broken through this barrier and rendered three-dimensional images through at least six millimeters of tissue, allowing whole-body visualization of adult zebra fish.
To achieve this feat, Prof. Ntziachristos and his team made light audible. They illuminated the fish from multiple angles using flashes of laser light that are absorbed by fluorescent pigments in the tissue of the genetically modified fish. The fluorescent pigments absorb the light, a process that causes slight local increases temperature, which in turn result in tiny local volume expansions. This happens very quickly and creates small shock waves. In effect, the short laser pulse gives rise to an ultrasound wave that the researchers pick up with an ultrasound microphone.
The real power of the technique, however, lies in specially developed mathematical formulas used to analyze the resulting acoustic patterns. An attached computer uses these formulas to evaluate and interpret the specific distortions caused by scales, muscles, bones and internal organs to generate a three-dimensional image.
The result of this "multi-spectral opto-acoustic tomography", or MSOT, is an image with a striking spatial resolution better than 40 micrometers (four hundredths of a millimeter). And best of all, the sedated fish wakes up and recovers without harm following the procedure.
Dr. Daniel Razansky, who played a pivotal role in developing the method, says, "This opens the door to a whole new universe of research. For the first time, biologists will be able to optically follow the development of organs, cellular function and genetic expression through several millimeters to centimeters of tissue."
In the past, understanding the evolution of development or of disease required numerous animals to be sacrificed. With a plethora of fluorochrome pigments to choose from - including pigments using the fluorescence protein technology for which a Nobel Prize was awarded in 2008 and clinically approved fluorescent agents - observing metabolic and molecular processes in all kinds of living organisms, from fish to mice and humans, will be possible. The fruits of pharmaceutical research can also be harvested faster since the molecular effects of new treatments can be observed in the same animals over an extended period of time.
Bio-engineer Ntziachristos is convinced that, "MSOT can truly revolutionize biomedical research, drug discovery and healthcare. Since MSOT allows optical and fluorescence imaging of tissue to a depth of several centimeters, it could become the method of choice for imaging cellular and subcellular processes throughout entire living tissues."
Further information
Reference:
Multispectral opto-acoustic tomography of deep-seated fluorescent proteins in vivo
Daniel Razansky, Martin Distel, Claudio Vinegoni, Rui Ma, Norbert Perrimon, Reinhard W. Köster & Vasilis Ntziachristos
Nature Photonics, published online on 21 June 2009; doi:10.1038/nphoton.2009.98
Helmholtz Zentrum München is the German Research Center for Environmental Health. As leading center oriented toward Environmental Health, it focuses on chronic and complex diseases which develop from the interaction of environmental factors and individual genetic disposition. Helmholtz Zentrum München has around 1680 staff members. The head office of the center is located in Neuherberg to the north of Munich on a 50-hectare research campus. Helmholtz Zentrum München belongs to the Helmholtz Association, Germany's largest research organization, a community of 15 scientific-technical and medical-biological research centers with a total of 26,500 staff members.
The Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI) focuses on the development and propagation of in-vivo imaging technology to the life sciences with application spanning from basic and drug discovery interrogations to pre-clinical imaging and clinical translation.
Helmholtz Zentrum München
To achieve this feat, Prof. Ntziachristos and his team made light audible. They illuminated the fish from multiple angles using flashes of laser light that are absorbed by fluorescent pigments in the tissue of the genetically modified fish. The fluorescent pigments absorb the light, a process that causes slight local increases temperature, which in turn result in tiny local volume expansions. This happens very quickly and creates small shock waves. In effect, the short laser pulse gives rise to an ultrasound wave that the researchers pick up with an ultrasound microphone.
The real power of the technique, however, lies in specially developed mathematical formulas used to analyze the resulting acoustic patterns. An attached computer uses these formulas to evaluate and interpret the specific distortions caused by scales, muscles, bones and internal organs to generate a three-dimensional image.
The result of this "multi-spectral opto-acoustic tomography", or MSOT, is an image with a striking spatial resolution better than 40 micrometers (four hundredths of a millimeter). And best of all, the sedated fish wakes up and recovers without harm following the procedure.
Dr. Daniel Razansky, who played a pivotal role in developing the method, says, "This opens the door to a whole new universe of research. For the first time, biologists will be able to optically follow the development of organs, cellular function and genetic expression through several millimeters to centimeters of tissue."
In the past, understanding the evolution of development or of disease required numerous animals to be sacrificed. With a plethora of fluorochrome pigments to choose from - including pigments using the fluorescence protein technology for which a Nobel Prize was awarded in 2008 and clinically approved fluorescent agents - observing metabolic and molecular processes in all kinds of living organisms, from fish to mice and humans, will be possible. The fruits of pharmaceutical research can also be harvested faster since the molecular effects of new treatments can be observed in the same animals over an extended period of time.
Bio-engineer Ntziachristos is convinced that, "MSOT can truly revolutionize biomedical research, drug discovery and healthcare. Since MSOT allows optical and fluorescence imaging of tissue to a depth of several centimeters, it could become the method of choice for imaging cellular and subcellular processes throughout entire living tissues."
Further information
Reference:
Multispectral opto-acoustic tomography of deep-seated fluorescent proteins in vivo
Daniel Razansky, Martin Distel, Claudio Vinegoni, Rui Ma, Norbert Perrimon, Reinhard W. Köster & Vasilis Ntziachristos
Nature Photonics, published online on 21 June 2009; doi:10.1038/nphoton.2009.98
Helmholtz Zentrum München is the German Research Center for Environmental Health. As leading center oriented toward Environmental Health, it focuses on chronic and complex diseases which develop from the interaction of environmental factors and individual genetic disposition. Helmholtz Zentrum München has around 1680 staff members. The head office of the center is located in Neuherberg to the north of Munich on a 50-hectare research campus. Helmholtz Zentrum München belongs to the Helmholtz Association, Germany's largest research organization, a community of 15 scientific-technical and medical-biological research centers with a total of 26,500 staff members.
The Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI) focuses on the development and propagation of in-vivo imaging technology to the life sciences with application spanning from basic and drug discovery interrogations to pre-clinical imaging and clinical translation.
Helmholtz Zentrum München
Microscopy Current Events and Microscopy News RSSSmall nanoparticles bring big improvement to medical imaging
If you're watching the complex processes in a living cell, it is easy to miss something important-especially if you are watching changes that take a long time to unfold and require high-spatial-resolution imaging.
Berkeley Researchers Take the Lead Out of Piezoelectrics
There is good news for the global effort to reduce the amount of lead in the environment and for the growing array of technologies that rely upon the piezoelectric effect.
Hoping for a fluorescent basket case
Although recent advances have raised hopes that a protective vaccine can be developed, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) remains a major public health problem.
Understanding mechanical properties of silicon nanowires paves way for nanodevices
Silicon nanowires are attracting significant attention from the electronics industry due to the drive for ever-smaller electronic devices, from cell phones to computers.
Caltech scientists develop DNA origami nanoscale breadboards for carbon nanotube circuits
In work that someday may lead to the development of novel types of nanoscale electronic devices, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has combined DNA's talent for self-assembly with the remarkable electronic properties of carbon nanotubes, thereby suggesting a solution to the long-standing problem of organizing carbon nanotubes into nanoscale electronic circuits.
Sculptured materials allow multiple channel plasmonic sensors
Sensors, communications devices and imaging equipment that use a prism and a special form of light -- a surface plasmon-polariton -- may incorporate multiple channels or redundant applications if manufacturers use sculptured thin films.
Engineers image nanostructure of a solid acid catalyst and boost its catalytic activity
The catalytic processes that facilitate the production of many chemicals and fuels could become much more environmentally friendly thanks to a breakthrough achieved by researchers from Lehigh and Rice Universities.
Scientists are first to 'unlock' the mystery of creating cultured pearls from the queen conch
For more than 25 years, all attempts at culturing pearls from the queen conch (Strombus gigas) have been unsuccessful-until now.
Breakthrough in industrial-scale nanotube processing
Rice University scientists today unveiled a method for the industrial-scale processing of pure carbon-nanotube fibers that could lead to revolutionary advances in materials science, power distribution and nanoelectronics.
Seeing previously invisible molecules for the first time
A team of Harvard chemists led by X. Sunney Xie has developed a new microscopic technique for seeing, in color, molecules with undetectable fluorescence.
More Microscopy Current Events and Microscopy News Articles
|
Fundamentals of Light Microscopy and Electronic Imaging by Douglas B. Murphy (Author) This book provides a coherent introduction to the principles and applications of the integrated electron microscope system. It is divided into three sections covering optical principles in diffraction and image formation, basic modes of light microscopy, and components of modern electronic imaging systems and image processing operations. Each chapter introduces relevant theory, followed by descriptions of instrument alignment and image interpretation. This revision includes new chapters on live cell imaging, measurement of protein dynamics, deconvolution microscopy, and interference microscopy. | |
 |
Basic Methods in Microscopy: Protocols and Concepts from Cells: A Laboratory Manual by David L. Spector (Author), Robert D. Goldman (Author) Imaging has become a vital tool for researchers in all aspects of biology. Recent advances in microscope technology, labeling techniques and gene and protein manipulation methods have led to breakthroughs in our understanding of biological processes. In order to take advantage of these techniques, biologists need to understand the fundamental techniques of microscopy. The methods found here, drawn from the popular laboratory standard manuals Cells: A Laboratory Manual and Live Cell Imaging provide a solid course in the basics of using the microscope in a biology laboratory. Basic Methods in Microscopy provides an essential guide to light microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, confocal microscopy, multiphoton microscopy and electron microscopy, preparation of tissues and cells, labeling... |
 |
Handbook of Biological Confocal Microscopy by James B. Pawley (Editor) This third edition of a classic text in biological microscopy includes detailed descriptions and in-depth comparisons of parts of the microscope itself, digital aspects of data acquisition and properties of fluorescent dyes, the techniques of 3D specimen preparation and the fundamental limitations, and practical complexities of quantitative confocal fluorescence imaging. |
|
Australian Electron Microscopy Newsletter by Aust Soc Electron Microscopy The Australian Electron Microscopy Newsletter reports on teaching and research in ion, electron, and laser microscopy and microanalysis. | |
 |
The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope: Internet Linked (Complete Books) by Kirsteen Rogers (Author), Paul Dowswell (Editor), Laura Fearn (Editor) The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope (Internet Linked) Series: Complete BooksAuthor: K. Rogers • Ages: 8 years and up• Size of book: 8 1/2 x 10 7/8 inches• Pages: 96 soft cover • Earned the 2000 Parent Council LTD AwardALSO: Winner of the Learning Magazine Teacher's Choice Award Winner of the Rhone-Poilenc Junior Prize, celebrating the best in popular science writing The Usborne Internet-linked Complete Book of the Microscope is a breathtaking introduction to an extra ordinary new world. Fantastic photographs, a thousand or even a million times larger than life, reveal the secrets of the micro world, from algae to atoms, dust to DNA and flies' eyes to flu viruses. The information-packed book also includes: Descriptions of Web sites where you can explore... |
 |
Donegan Replacement Lens For Opti-Visor 1 3/4X Magnification by Donegan Optivisor brand replacement lens plates. Donegan Optical Co. Use these lenses to replace scratched or damaged lenses or to change magnification. |
 |
Li: The Patterns of Nature and other films by John N. Campbell A collection of visionary short films by the acclaimed experimental filmmaker. DVD includes 7 films."Li: The Patterns of Nature" -employs time-lapse, microscopy, animation and cymatic imagery to explore the Chinese concept of "Li"- organic patterning, and the underlying inherent order of the physical world as revealed in its natural patterns and rhythms."Form and Void" -an abstract experimental animation composed of thousands of rapidly strobing inkblot patterns- a trance film."Rites of Passage" -a poetic examination of spiritual death and rebirth."Kirlian Experiment No. 3"- employs Kirlian or Electromagnetic Discharge Videography, named for the Russian Parapsychology researchers who popularized its use."Hidden World" -explores the macro and microscopic life in and around a pond."Dance of... |
|
Using Microscopy, Volume 4: Probing Living Cells: Imaging Cellular Dynamics [VHS] Starring: Gary Borisy | |
 |
MICROSCOPY by ON THE MARK FORMERLY T4T Discover the basic principles of magnification with this step-by-step introduction to mircroscopy. Students explore the miniscule world using hand lenses, focusing and lighting techniques as they solve mysteries, observe cells and watch crystals grow. These independent science projects also incorporate skills from fine arts, language arts and social studies, increasing your students knowledge base while still having fun learning and exploring on their own. 96 pages. |
 |
Meiji Economy Digital CMOS 1.5 Mega Pixel Video Camera for Microscopy by MEIJI Meiji Economy Digital CMOS 1.5 Mega Pixel Video Camera for Microscopy |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |