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

博尔德的科罗拉多大学获得了一个奖项，以开发下一代光学纳米成像仪器，扩大科学和工程关键领域的研究和研究培训。该项目将通过产生具有独特特性的多功能纳米显微镜来改变位于博尔德的科罗拉多大学的显微镜能力。该仪器将由BioFrontiers研究所的研究人员和工程学院、艺术学院和科学学院的部门共享。下一代光学纳米显微镜的广泛可用性对于确保新兴的跨学科研究活动至关重要。该平台将汇集物理学家，电气工程师，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，共同开发提高分辨率的方法，并在生物相关问题中推进现代显微镜。这些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思想和技术发展的重点。此外，该平台将通过BioFrontiers核心设施为社会提供最先进的光学成像能力，该项目将促进对亚细胞水平和不同类型材料内纳米级现象的理解，从而改进生物科学和先进仪器。目前的生物科学研究强烈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以前无法想象的细胞细节和大分子结构成像成为可能。值得注意的是，荧光内窥镜与活细胞相容，并且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研究中创造一场革命，但目前的技术存在明显的缺点：有限的视场和景深，有限的采集速率不适合快速活细胞现象，需要大量的光剂量产生光损伤，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、快速结构化照明和自适应显微镜等技术的综合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.