High performance in vivo imaging equipment to facilitate infectious disease research

LSHTM的研究重点是影响地球上一些最贫困人口的传染病，其长期目标是开发更有效的药物和疫苗。然而，由于我们对病原体生物学以及与宿主的相互作用如何导致疾病进展的知识存在差距，该领域的进展受到阻碍。我们的研究策略是解决这些问题，与药物开发携手并进。在体成像是传染病研究中的关键技术。它允许以非侵入性方式长期监测实验小鼠中的寄生虫和细菌感染，并且可以进一步适应于提供关于组织特异性和细胞特异性感染和疾病病理学的数据。LSHTM的科学家一直是这些程序应用的领导者。然而，经过十年的大量使用，我们目前的设备即将达到其寿命的尽头，并已被新一代的成像系统所取代，这些系统具有更高的技术规格，分辨率和灵敏度。MILabs生产的超高分辨率光学系统是尖端技术，我们正在为此寻求资金。它将允许高度灵敏的体内成像和三维疾病进展的监测（断层扫描），最终在单细胞分辨率。新设备将被安置在一个专用的3级防护设施中，在那里，它将使LSHTM研究人员能够将我们对全球重要病原体的研究提升到一个新的细节水平。此外，它将使我们能够进一步扩大与制药部门在药物开发方面的合作，并提供与疾病流行国家的研究人员接触的新机会。

Research at LSHTM is focused on infectious diseases that impact on some of the poorest people on the planet, with the long-term aim of developing more effective drugs and vaccines. However, progress in this area has been impeded by gaps in our knowledge of pathogen biology and how interactions with the host result in disease progression. Our research strategy is to address these issues, hand-in-hand with drug development. In vivo imaging is a key technology in infectious disease research. It allows parasitic and bacterial infections in experimental mice to be monitored long-term in a non-invasive manner, and can be further adapted to provide data on tissue-specific and cell-specific infection and disease pathology. Scientists at LSHTM have been leaders in the application of these procedures. However, after a decade of heavy usage, our current equipment is reaching the end of its life-span, and has been overtaken by a new generation of imaging systems with enhanced technical specifications, resolution and sensitivity. The ultra-high resolution optical system, produced by MILabs, for which we are seeking funding is cutting edge technology. It will allow highly sensitive in vivo imaging and the monitoring of disease progression in 3 dimensions (tomography), ultimately at single cell resolution. The new equipment will be housed in a dedicated containment level 3 facility, where it will enable LSHTM researchers to take our research on globally important pathogens to a new level of detail. In addition, it will allow us to expand further collaborations on drug development with the pharmaceutical sector, and provide new opportunities to engage with researchers from disease endemic countries.