Acquisition of a Leica SCN400 Slide Scanning System For Use In A Multi-User Facil

描述(申请人提供)：此申请是为了筹集资金，从Visiopamm购买一台集成了定量和体视软件的徕卡SCN400幻灯片扫描仪，以及两台用于离线分析的远程工作站。在当代基础和转化性生物医学研究中，自动检测和捕获细胞和组织上的组织化学、免疫组织化学或荧光探针的聚焦、高分辨率图像的能力至关重要。当组织微结构的详细分析对于理解自然或病理变化是必不可少的时，定量显微镜成为研究和临床环境中的有力工具。基于设计的体视学方法对于避免生物测量中的偏差至关重要。建议的系统是非常强大的，因为它集成了最先进的扫描和图像捕获与准确的，公正的定量。采集的图像将被离线分析，从而释放仪器供需要访问其采集应用程序的用户使用。该仪器将被安置在凯斯西储大学(CASE)遗传学系的成像核心设施中。成像核心的使命是为凯斯和周边机构的科学家提供专业知识、最先进的仪器以及出色的培训和技术支持。拟议的系统不仅将增强大学支持的核心的研究能力，还将直接影响NIH资助的多个补助金的研究，包括14个R01、3个R21、2个P41和1个P01、K99、R42、R02、P20以及各种临床和培训奖项。该资助申请中概述的利用载玻片扫描仪技术的实验涵盖了从基础到临床再到翻译的方方面面的研究，包括发育的基本过程(生殖细胞、血管、肺)以及与疾病相关的发育过程(耳聋、肝病、癌症)、针对感染的宿主防御机制、冠状血管构型、评估肥胖、饮食和结肠癌之间的联系、放射和化疗后DNA修复机制的治疗影响、感染和免疫反应、软骨和血管的组织工程，以及开发一种便携式设备用于电刺激诱导士兵在战斗中遭受的伤口愈合。此外，几个项目将所要求的仪器与其他成像技术联系起来，例如用于原位免疫细胞行为的双光子活体显微镜，用于实时指导针刺活检的乳房X光照相，以及从整个生物体到组织结构再到分子的多空间尺度的冷冻成像。任何拟议的研究项目都不能用我们校园或邻近机构现有的任何设备来完成。 公共卫生相关性：美国国立卫生研究院资助的凯斯西储大学的研究人员请求支持一种新的、集成的载玻片扫描系统，该系统将允许对细胞和组织样本进行自动化、定量和体视学分析。该系统将使研究人员能够加快与裂谷热病毒、创伤治疗、耳聋、失明、结肠癌、肺癌和肝癌以及基本发育过程相关的发现。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is for funds to purchase a Leica SCN400 Slide Scanner integrated with quantitation and stereology software from Visiopharm, and two remote workstations for offline analysis. The ability to automatically detect and capture in-focus, high resolution images of histochemical, immunohistochemical, or fluorescent probes on cells and tissues is paramount in contemporary basic and translational biomedical research. Quantitative microscopy becomes a powerful tool in both the research and clinical setting when a detailed analysis of tissue microstructure is essential to understand natural or pathological changes. Design- based stereological approaches are critical to avoid bias in biological measurement. The proposed system is very powerful as it integrates state-of-the-art scanning and image capture with accurate, unbiased quantitation. The acquired images will be analyzed offline, freeing the instrument for users needing access to its acquisition applications. The instrument will be housed in an imaging core facility in the Department of Genetics at Case Western Reserve University (CASE). The mission of the imaging core is to provide expertise, state-of-the-art instrumentation, and outstanding training and technical support to scientists at CASE and surrounding institutions. The proposed system will not only enhance the research capabilities of a university-supported core but directly impact the research of multiple NIH-funded grants including 14 R01s, 3 R21s, 2 P41s, and 1 P01, K99, R42, R02, P20 plus various clinical and training awards. The experiments utilizing the slide scanner technology outlined in this grant application cover all aspects of research from basic to clinical to translational, including fundamental processes in development (germ cell, blood vessel, lung) as well as developmental processes associated with disease (deafness, liver disease, cancers), host defense mechanisms against infections, coronary vasculature patterning, assessing the links between obesity, diet and colon cancer, the therapeutic impact of DNA-repair mechanisms after radiation and chemotherapy, infection and the immune response, tissue engineering of cartilage and vasculature, and the development of a portable device for the electrostimulation-induced healing of wounds suffered by soldiers in combat. In addition, several projects link the requested instrumentation to other imaging technologies, such as 2-photon intravital microscopy for in situ immune cell behavior, mammography for real-time guidance of needle biopsies, and cryo-imaging at multiple spatial scales from the whole organism to tissue structures to molecules. None of the proposed research projects can be accomplished with any currently available equipment on our campus or neighboring institutions. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: NIH funded investigators at Case Western Reserve University request support for a new, integrated slide scanning system that will allow automated, quantitative, and stereological analysis of cell and tissue samples. The system will enable researchers to speed discoveries related specifically to Rift Valley fever virus, wound therapy, deafness, blindness, colon, lung, and liver cancers, and fundamental processes of development.