January 2019 – The Live Cell Imaging facility

The image analysis help you have always dreamt of, totally for free!!! ???

Deadline 6th of feb!

First SciLifeLab BioImage Informatics call4help zoom session

On the 14th February 2019, 10:00 – 12:00 the SciLifeLab BioImage Informatics Facility is organizing an online support session on BioImage Analysis (“call4help” session).

How does it work?

Each selected participant gets a 15 min slot. You have 5 min to present your problem. It is mainly about showing the scientific context, representative input images, describing desired output measurements, and giving a brief statement about what was done before. The remaining 10 min we will brainstorm together on the possible solution(s), discuss tools, techniques, etc.

The Bioimage Informatics Facility can provide further support, if needed. We are happy to announce that Sylvie Le Guyader, Live Cell Imaging Facility, KI, Huddinge, is joining the session as microscopy expert.

How can I participate?

Step1:

Prepare a presentation – use this template for your presentation:

Step2:

a) Upload your presentation to this google drive:

b) AND send an e-mail to anna.klemm@it.uu.se until 6th February 2019.

Step 3:

Join this zoom-session.

If your problem is selected for presentation, you will get a time-slot of 15 minutes within the session (14th February 2019, 10:00 – 12:00). If not, you are welcome to join the discussion anyway!

What are the Deadlines

Submission of a problem: until 6th February 2019

Notification about participation: 8th February 2019

Session: 14th February 2019, 10:00 – 12:00

Participants

Petter Ranefall

Kevin Smith

Anna Klemm

Sylvie Le Guyader

Call4Help format

The call4help format was initially developed by ScopeM, ETH Zürich.

Together with the coverslip and the immersion medium (oil, water, glycerol or air), the sample mounting medium is part of the design of a microscopy objective. Matching the refraction index of the sample to the one recommended by the manufacturer of the objective will make the sample transparent for the objective, drastically improving fluorescence microscopy in samples thicker than a couple of um (i.e. anything except fluorescent beads!).

Not matching the refraction indices is equivalent to watching something through a wet window… Far from optimal! :-/

The refraction index recommended by the manufacturer is the same as the RI of the immersion medium: 1.52 for an oil immersion objective, 1.47 for a glycerol objective, 1.33 for a water objective, 1 for an air objective.

This article compares 7 mounting media and their effect on the refraction index of brain samples. CFM3 seems to be a cool mounting medium. The company that produces it has partially paid for the study but it sounds worth a try anyway!

In the same vein, this article presents a non-toxic way to change the refraction index of cell culture medium (not the sample) to improve imaging of live samples. Sounds pretty promising to grow live organoids which quickly become opaque. This will also be very useful when clearing samples as the sample chamber on a light sheet microscope is big so this is a cheap way to fill the chamber for imaging. 🙂

If you try any of these 2 chemicals, please leave a comment to let us know how it went! 🙂