Making High Quality Microscopy Affordable for Biomedical Research
In a significant step forward for making cutting-edge microscopy broadly accessible to researchers worldwide, Dr. Raju Tomer and Dr. Lars Dietrich recently collaborated on the development and application of an innovative imaging technique called projected Light Sheet Microscopy (pLSM). An article published this week in Nature Biomedical Engineering describes how the Tomer lab achieved cutting-edge, high-quality imaging at a fraction of the cost, while minimizing the instrumental complexity.
Light sheet microscopy is considered the imaging gold standard and has already revolutionized scientists’ ability to study intact biological systems in micrometer detail. However, the prohibitive cost and complexity of existing light sheet microscopy systems have limited access to only a handful of well-resourced labs around the world. The Tomer lab sought to overcome these barriers to accessibility by repurposing everyday consumer components, such as pocket laser projectors, mini-computers, and Sony camera chips. The new pLSM system shows impressive versatility across a range of applications, including Alzheimer's research, high-throughput imaging of lab-grown brain models, and live observation of bacterial biofilms.
The Dietrich lab, which studies how bacteria form protective communities called biofilms, has already used the technique to study the molecular mechanisms of biofilm pattern formation. Biofilms are multicellular structures that are often described as “static”. However, pLSM has enabled the lab to visualize the development of biofilm architecture with a new level of detail, revealing that the process is actually remarkably dynamic. “Since they are so tiny, it has been difficult to visualize individual bacteria within biofilms as they grow,” explains Dr. Dietrich. “Using [the Tomer lab’s] technology, we are now able to see that bacterial cells zoom around like comets, in and around the biofilm as it grows!”
Already, pLSM has served a critical role in empowering researchers to approach scientific questions from new perspectives. Collaborating with multiple labs at Columbia Medical Center, the Tomer lab demonstrated the utility of this technique for high resoluiion imaging of several types of samples, including imaging of large mouse and human brain samples as well as lab-grown human minibrain (brain and vessel organoid) samples. By democratizing advanced microscopy, the pLSM system offers labs everywhere the tools to measure, analyze, and investigate complex biological systems with greater ease and efficiency. “By making advanced microscopy more affordable and accessible,” says Dr. Tomer, “our goal is to help accelerate scientific discoveries in labs worldwide, benefiting both pre-clinical and clinical research.”
To learn more, please visit the journal article here.