OST and UZH achieve quantum leap in cell imaging

(CONNECT) The OST has succeeded in building an instrument that comes closer than ever before to imaging cell activity in living organisms. Together with the Bruno Weber Lab at the University of Zurich and the company Prospective Instruments from Dornbirn in Vorarlberg, the IMES Institute for Microelectronics, Embedded Systems and Sensor Technology at OST has developed a photon-counting system that sets new standards in biomedical imaging and represents a quantum leap, according to a statement from OST.

The new system makes it possible to analyze cell activities in high resolution directly on the screen. To this end, the team has further developed FLIM, Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy, an established measurement method. The rapid processes in the brain can now be measured better than ever before. "The instrument that OST has built us is basically a very fast stopwatch that can measure light in periods of time in which it only travels a few centimetres," Dr. Luca Ravotto from UZH is quoted as saying. This new technology is not only more accurate, but also more robust against high light intensity and significantly more cost-effective than existing systems.

"There are metabolic processes or other processes by which you can tell whether a cell is healthy or whether it is so-called pathological," says Prof. Dr. Bruno Weber from UZH. "And this differentiation is of course important for the surgeon during the operation and not just an hour later."

With the new instrument, it takes between 10 seconds and one minute for the FLIM image to be completed, according to an OST explanatory video. This is not enough for the researchers: "Our goal is definitely to become much faster," explains IMES Director Prof. Dr. Paul Zbinden. "Real time would be the idea that you can actually go into the operating room and see if all the tumor cells have been caught."

This would make something previously unthinkable a reality: FLIM videos. They would form the basis for numerous additional application options with smaller devices, for example in intraoperative applications and for diagnostic purposes. A follow-up project for real-time diagnostics is reportedly already being planned. ce/mm