System creates 3-D images of tissue samples without conventional lenses

A new system developed by UCLA researchers could make it easier and less expensive to diagnose chronic diseases, particularly in remote areas without expensive lab equipment.The technology uses extremely simple optical hardware and a lens-free microscope, as well as sophisticated algorithms that help reconstruct the images of tissue samples. It could make much-needed diagnostic testing available and affordable for people in developing countries and remote areas that lack the expensive lab equipment currently used to perform tissue biopsies.The system for making biological samples transparent, also known as “tissue clearing,” and then imaging them using a lens-free microscope is described inan article published today in Science Advances, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It was developed by a team led by Aydogan Ozcan, the UCLA Chancellor ’s Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Bioengineering and associate director of the California NanoSystems Institute; and Rajan Kulkarni, an assistant professor of medicine and dermatology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and a member of CNSI.Tissue biopsy is widely considered the gold standard for detecting diseases like cancer and inflammatory conditions. But the test is relatively expensive and complex, and it requires the use of sophisticated facilities — a serious challenge in regions with limited resources.In a standard biopsy, tissue is cut into thin slices, ar...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news