Upgrade to embryo microsurgery and imaging system

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The ongoing objective of my research program is to advance our knowledge of cell mechanics. Specifically, we strive to understand how forces generated by sub-cellular structural components ultimately cause groups of cells to reorganize themselves in embryos during normal development and wound healing.A powerful Embryo Microsurgery and Imaging System that my team built during the last four years has enabled us to learn a great deal about the mechanics of embryonic cells. Recent experiments carried out by us and by others show that if enhancements costing just under $38,000 are made to this $300,000 system, we will be able to measure the forces at work in individual cells, something that has not been done before.To realize this exciting opportunity three enhancements are required to the system hardware and software:   1) a set of high numerical aperture (NA) objective lenses are required so that camera shutter times can be reduced and images collected more rapidly, 2) a new nanofocusing piezoelectric objective focusing drive is needed so that the objective lens can be positioned accurately and quickly, and 3) deconvolution software is needed to remove image "blur" caused by optical distortions and other factors. Because these components are being added to an existing system, important new capabilities can be realized at a modest cost.These enhancements will make possible a powerful new approach for investigating the mechanics of cells and will lead to fundamental new knowledge. We anticipate that this new knowledge will lead to important advances in our understanding of embryo development, wound healing, cancer metastases and tissue engineering.