Advanced characterisation of imaging probe products

LightOx是一家总部位于纽卡斯尔的药物开发公司，总部位于泰恩河畔。该公司已经向其他研究人员提供了被称为LightOx探测器的光激活产品，使他们能够了解细胞中发生的生物过程。LightOx已经表明，他们的探测器分子在被光激活时能够发出荧光，使研究人员能够了解探测器在细胞内的位置。然而，尽管荧光测量可以向研究人员显示这些分子的位置，但它们不能准确地告诉我们那里有多少。为了解决这个问题，世界各地的研究人员开始展示一种新的成像技术，结合荧光和拉曼成像，结合拉曼(一种光散射)测量和来自荧光的光来回答这两个问题。以及“多少钱？”问题。这项技术的一个缺点是，它需要专门设计的能够同时进行荧光和拉曼测量的探测器；市场上没有满足这些条件的探测器，这大大减缓了这项有望帮助研究人员回答复杂生物问题的迷人技术的进展。LightOx认为，他们的许多LightOx探测器展示了能够使用这种新成像技术的独特结构，但他们是一家小公司(10名员工)，缺乏在这些实验中展示探测器能力所需的专业知识和设备。为了解决这一问题，LightOx与两家世界领先的技术设施-中央激光设备(CLF)和国家物理实验室(NPL)-合作开展了这一A4I项目，以表征他们的LightOx探测器的拉曼特性，并使用这些测量来展示这一新成像技术的实用性。CLF和NPL配备了最先进的仪器来测量这些特性，这些实验将使客户能够使用LightOx探测器来利用结合的荧光和拉曼成像，并让LightOx了解更多关于他们的新技术。LightOx已经通过市场领先的全球分销商销售LightOx探测器，并指出目前还没有用于结合荧光和拉曼成像的探测器。因此，LightOx看到了填补新兴且可能有利可图的市场缺口的机会，我们与CLF和NPL合作开展了这一雄心勃勃的项目，旨在为LightOx产品建立新的应用。这些探测器有可能使世界各地的研究人员在癌症、细胞生物学和治疗学等领域取得新的发现。

LightOx are a drug development company based in Newcastle upon Tyne that has made its light-activated products, known as LightOx Probes, available to other researchers to enable them to understand biological processes that occur in a cell.LightOx has shown that their Probe molecules are capable of emitting fluorescence when they are activated by light, allowing researchers to see where a Probe is situated inside a cell. However, while fluorescence measurements can show researchers where these molecules are localised, they cannot accurately tell us how much is there. To solve this problem, researchers around the world are beginning to demonstrate a new imaging technique, combined fluorescence and Raman imaging, that incorporates Raman (a form of light scattering) measurements along with light from fluorescence to answer both of these "Where?" and "How much?" questions. One disadvantage to this technique is that it requires specially-designed probes that are capable of both fluorescence and Raman measurements; there is no on-market probe that satisfies these conditions, significantly slowing the advancement of this fascinating technique that promises to help researchers answer complex biological questions.LightOx believe that many of their LightOx Probes exhibit unique structures that are capable of this new imaging technique, but they are a small company (10 employees) and lack the expertise and equipment required to demonstrate their probes' capabilities in these experiments. To solve this, LightOx have partnered with two of the world's leading technology facilities, the Central Laser Facility (CLF) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), on this A4I project to characterise the Raman properties of their LightOx probes and use these measurements to demonstrate utility in this new imaging technique. The CLF and NPL are equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation to measure these properties, and these experiments will enable customers to use LightOx Probes to utilise combined fluorescence and Raman imaging and also allow LightOx to learn more about their novel technology.LightOx already sell LightOx Probes through a market-leading worldwide distributor and have noted that there are no probes currently marketed for combined fluorescence and Raman imaging. Hence, LightOx sees an opportunity to fill an emerging and potentially lucrative market gap, and we have partnered with the CLF and NPL to undertake this ambitious project that aims to establish a new application for LightOx products. These Probes have potential to enable researchers across the world to make new discoveries in fields such as cancer, cell biology and therapeutics.