PRECISION UNIVERSAL COMPENSATOR FOR IMAGING POLARIMETRY

马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔海洋生物实验室的研究人员正在 开发了一种具有大量 在速度、分辨率和 多才多艺。 显微镜，与一个新的液晶（LC）普遍 补偿器，在不到一秒的时间内产生图像， 各向异性与样品方向无关，并且在空间 显微镜的分辨率。虽然传统的pol-scope通常 用于测量光学各向异性在一个单一的样本点，新的 显微镜提供了高空间和大面积的测量， 时间分辨率 我们建议推进精密LC的构建和控制艺术 减速器，以增加新的pol-scope的速度和灵敏度， 研究开发一种方便、通用的 带软件的显微镜附件。 这些改进将至关重要 提高第一能力，以可视化和定量分析， 动态组织的大分子组装，独立于他们的 方向，在活细胞中。 此类组件的示例包括 有丝分裂纺锤体，细胞分裂时的收缩环， 微管组织在细胞间期。我们预计， 基于这项研究的价格适中的配件将找到坚实的利基市场 科学研究以及临床和工业市场 应用.

Researchers at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, are developing a polarized light microscope (pol-scope) with substantial advantages over traditional pol-scopes in speed, resolution, and versatility. The microscope, with a new liquid crystal (LC) universal compensator, produces images in under one second that measure optical anisotropies irrespective of sample orientation and at the spatial resolution of the microscope. While traditional pol-scopes are typically used to measure optical anisotropy in a single specimen point, the new microscope provides measurements over a large area with high spatial and temporal resolution. We propose to advance the art of construction and control of precision LC retarders to increase the speed and sensitivity of the new pol-scope, and to investigate feasibility of developing a convenient and versatile microscope accessory with software. These enhancements will critically improve the first capability to visualize and analyze quantitatively the dynamic organization of macromolecular assemblies, independent of their orientation, in living cells. Examples of such assemblies include the mitotic spindle, the contractile ring during cell cleavage or the microtubule organization during cell interphase. We anticipate that a moderately priced accessory based on this research will find solid niche markets for scientific investigations, as well as clinical and industrial applications.