High Throughput Data Collection Software for Multiplexed TEM Samples

描述（由申请人提供）：透射电子显微镜是表征生物疗法、疫苗、药物传递载体和纳米颗粒的一种有价值的技术。有相当多的证据表明，这些样品的物理特性与其生物分布、安全性和有效性有关。TEM成像可以直接观察和量化这些参数，包括尺寸分布、形状分布、浓度、聚集状态以及2D和3D结构确定。当研究人员必须排除来历不明的问题时，这些丰富的信息尤其有用。随着生物疗法和纳米颗粒的尺寸和复杂性的增加，TEM作为其他生物物理方法的正交补充变得越来越重要。尽管TEM作为描述各种相关生物环境中样品的物理化学性质的直接技术具有明显的实用性，但每个样品的成本是该方法广泛采用的重大障碍，特别是对于常规样品筛选。为了解决这个问题，我们将开发软件，专注于应用于单个网格基板的多个样本的高通量数据采集。我们的长期目标是将TEM的每个样品的成本降低至少一个数量级，从而使TEM成为一种经济实惠且无处不在的商业研发和测试技术。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Transmission electron microscopy is a valuable technique for characterizing biological therapeutics, vaccines, drug delivery vehicles, and nanoparticles. There is considerable evidence that links the physical properties of these samples to their bio-distribution, safety, and efficacy. TEM imaging allows direct observation and quantification of these parameters, which include size distributions, shape distributions, concentrations, aggregation states, and 2D and 3D structure determinations. This wealth of information is especially useful when researchers must troubleshoot problems of unknown origin. As bio-therapeutics and nanoparticles increase in size and complexity, TEM is becoming increasingly important as an orthogonal complement to other biophysical methods. Despite the obvious utility of TEM as a direct technique for describing the physicochemical properties of samples in a variety of relevant biological environments, the cost per sample is a significant barrier to the method's widespread adoption, particularly for routine screening of samples. To address this, we will develop software focused on high-throughput data acquisition of multiple samples applied to a single grid substrate. Our long-term goal is to lower the cost per sample for TEM by at least an order of magnitude, and thus establish TEM as an affordable and ubiquitous technique for commercial R&D and testing.