An Enhanced Optical Coherence Microscope for the Study of Dynamic Processes in the Early Development of Plants and Animals

哈维·穆德学院的理查德·哈斯克尔博士获得了一笔赠款，用于建造一台光学相干显微镜（OCM），以捕捉动植物早期发育动态过程的三维图像。 Harvey Mudd的一个由科学家和工程师组成的跨学科团队将记录发生在发育中的生物体表面以下300至500 mm处的关键事件，由于胚胎组织的强烈光散射特性，这些事件太深而无法使用其他基于光的方法。 OCM仪器能够对单个植物或动物的发育进行非侵入性成像，这将为全面了解基因表达与组织发育过程中发生的结构变化之间的关系提供关键工具。OCM仪器的光源将是在近红外（1300 nm）范围内工作的超快激光，以提供良好的生物组织深度穿透。 激光输出将有一个广泛的光谱，在5毫米的显微镜的深度分辨率的结果。横向分辨率是由聚焦光斑直径，也是5毫米。为OCM开发的激光系统将由商业供应商销售，以便它是提供给其他研究人员。 此外，该仪器将能够测量散射运动，例如布朗运动，其在初步实验中已经显示出在不同细胞类型之间提供有效的内在对比。 折射率的局部变化的测量也将用作固有对比度的来源。 新的OCM仪器将用于研究青蛙胚胎的发育和植物茎尖组织的分化。 OCM图像将被组装成动态过程的延时图像，从而允许对细胞运动和分化的拟议模型进行首次直接测试。 该研究团队将主要由哈维穆德学院的四名教师以及四所研究型大学的合作者组成。 他们的背景横跨物理学、生物学和工程学等学科。 估计有30名本科生研究人员，从哈维穆德的所有6个主要项目中抽出，将在夏季和学年期间为该项目做出重大贡献。 该项目的多学科性质提供了一个不寻常的机会，整合研究和教育，为学生和教师提供特殊的培训。 参与者有动力发展科学和工程事业，并追求跨越传统学科的重大研究问题。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Richard Haskell at Harvey Mudd College to construct an optical coherence microscope (OCM) to capture three-dimensional images of dynamic processes in the early development of plants and animals. An interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers at Harvey Mudd will record critical events that occur 300 to 500 mm below the surface of a developing organism, too deep to be accessible to other light-based methods because of the strong light-scattering property of embryonic tissue. The ability of the OCM instrument to image non-invasively the development of an individual plant or animal will provide a key tool for gaining a full understanding of the relationship between gene expression and the structural changes that occur during tissue development.The light source of the OCM instrument will be an ultrafast laser operating in the near infrared (1300 nm) to provide good depth penetration in biological tissue. The laser output will have a broad spectrum that results in a depth resolution for the microscope of 5 mm. The lateral resolution is provided by the focused spot diameter, also 5 mm. The laser system developed for the OCM will be marketed by a commercial vendor so that it is available to other researchers. In addition, the instrument will be capable of measuring scatter motion, for example Brownian motion, which in preliminary experiments has been shown to provide effective intrinsic contrast between different cell types. Measurements of the local variation in refractive index will also serve as a source of intrinsic contrast. The new OCM instrument will be used to study the development of frog embryos and the differentiation of tissue at the apex of plant shoots. OCM images will be assembled to form time-lapse images of dynamic processes, permitting the first direct tests of proposed models of cell motions and differentiation. The research team will consist primarily of four faculty at Harvey Mudd College plus collaborators at four research universities. Their backgrounds span the disciplines of physics, biology, and engineering. An estimated 30 undergraduate researchers, drawn from all 6 major programs at Harvey Mudd, will make significant contributions to the program both during the summer and the academic year. The multidisciplinary nature of the project provides an unusual opportunity to integrate research and education resulting in exceptional training for students and faculty alike. Participants are motivated to develop careers in science and engineering, and to pursue significant research problems that stretch across traditional disciplinary lines.