A scientific first can be claimed by Yale University engineers, who have for the first time created 3D models of whole intact mouse organs, according to a report in the latest Journal of Biomedical Optics. You can now feast your eyes on three dimensional images and videos of the brain, small intestine, large intestine, kidney, lung and testicles of a mouse.
The models were made possible by techniques known as fluorescence and multiphoton microscopy, which allow the natural fluorescence emitted by tissues to show up on camera.
(Mouse lung images; Credit: Michael Leven, Yale)
Cool as this is, you might be wondering why anyone would take the time to study mouse innards so intently.
“Fluorescence microscopy plays such a key role throughout biology and medicine,” said Michael Levene, associate professor at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science and the team leader. “It’s like creating a virtual 3D biopsy that can be manipulated at will. And you have the added benefit that the tissue remains intact even after it’s been imaged.”
With traditional microscopy, researchers can only image tissues up to depths on the order of 300 microns, or about three times the thickness of a human hair. To achieve even that, tissue samples must be cut into thin slices, stained with dyes to highlight different structures and cell types, individually imaged, then stacked back together to create 3D models. The new Yale method, on the other hand, avoids any kind of slicing or staining of organs.
Something you might appreciate if they're your own.
To read more about how the process works, please go to this Yale page.
And you can also check out videos showing a mouse small intestine and lung in 3D if you Download Lung_6_24_08_(RGB)
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In future, such technology could benefit cancer patients. It also has the capability of determining where different genes are expressed in the body, and to trace where drugs travel.
Tags: Animals, Health, Humans, Mammals, Photography
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