MRI: Development of an Advanced Bio-Imaging Instrument: Enabling 3D quantitative multifunctional sensing at the nanoscale

科罗拉多大学博尔德分校被授予开发下一代光学纳米成像仪器的奖项，以扩大科学和工程关键领域的研究和研究培训。该项目将通过制造具有独特特征的多功能纳米显微镜来改变科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的显微镜能力。该仪器将由生物前沿研究所的研究人员以及工程学院、艺术学院和理工学院的系共享。下一代光学纳米技术的广泛应用对于确保新兴的跨学科研究活动至关重要。这个平台将把物理学家、电子工程师、生物工程师、生物化学家、分子生物学家、细胞生物学家、计算机科学家和数学家聚集在一起，共同开发提高分辨率的方法，并推动现代显微镜在生物相关问题上的应用。该设备将成为跨学科研究的中心，并成为跨越传统部门界限的新想法和技术开发的重点。此外，该平台将通过BioFrontiers核心设施为社区提供最先进的光学成像能力。该项目将在亚细胞水平和不同类型的材料中促进对纳米现象的了解，促进生物科学和先进仪器的进步。目前的生物科学研究在很大程度上依赖于研究人员在纳米尺度上表征亚细胞结构和功能的能力。新兴的光学显微镜技术使细胞细节和大分子结构能够成像，这是以前无法想象的。值得注意的是，荧光肛门镜与活细胞兼容，并能够以高分子特异性进行多重标记。虽然这些技术有望在生物学研究中创造一场革命，但目前的技术存在重大缺陷：有限的视场和景深，有限的采集速率不适合快速的活细胞现象，需要大量的光剂量造成光损伤，以及不适合深度成像。该项目旨在通过点扩散函数工程、单分子定位显微镜、快速结构照明和自适应显微镜等技术的集成设计来克服这些缺点。

An award is made to the University of Colorado at Boulder to develop next-generation optical nano-imaging instrumentation to expand research and research training in criticalareas of science and engineering. The project will transform the microscopy capabilities at the University of Colorado at Boulder by generating a multi-functional nanoscope with unique characteristics. The instrument will be shared by investigators in the BioFrontiers Institute and departments in the colleges of Engineering and Arts and Sciences. Wide availability of next generation optical nanoscopy is critical to ensure emerging interdisciplinary research activities. This platform will bring together physicists, electrical engineers, biological engineers, biochemists, molecular biologists, cellular biologists, computer scientists, and mathematicians to work together on developing methods for increasing resolution and advancing modern microscopy in biologically relevant problems. The equipment will be the center of interdisciplinary research and a focus for the development of new ideas and technologies that cross traditional departmental boundaries. Furthermore, the platform will provide state-of-the-art optical imaging capabilities to the community through the BioFrontiers core facility.The project will advance understanding of nanoscale phenomena both at the subcellular level and within different types of materials, bringing about improvements in bioscience and advanced instrumentation. Current bioscience research is strongly dependent onthe investigators ability to characterize sub-cellular structure and function at the nanoscale. Emerging optical microscopy techniques enable imaging of cellular details and macromolecular structure previously unimaginable. Remarkably, fluorescencenanoscopy is compatible with live cells and able to multiplex labeling with high molecular specificity. While these techniques promise to create a revolution in biological research, current incarnations present significant shortcomings: limited field of view and depth of field, limited acquisition rate unsuitable for fast live cell phenomena, need for significant light dosage creating photo-damage, and unsuitability for deep imaging. The project is set to overcome these shortcomings by an integrated design of techniques such as point-spread function engineering, single-molecule localization microscopy, fast structured illumination, and adaptive microscopy.