New microscope lets researchers watch cells grow while measuring their mechanical forces
Scientists have built a microscopy platform that observes living 3D cell cultures in real time while simultaneously measuring the physical forces around them. The technique could accelerate drug development and tissue engineering by revealing how cells behave in conditions closer to the human body—information that's currently difficult and time-consuming to obtain.
Originaltitel: OptoRheo: Live imaging of 3D cell cultures combined with local biomechanical sensing.
<p>OptoRheo is a new microscopy platform that allows for live imaging of cells in 3D cultures over long-time courses, combined with micromechanical sensing of the material local to the cells. This is achieved by combining light sheet microscopy, multiplane imaging, optical trapping, and passive particle tracking micro-rheology in a single optical platform. A novel light sheet configuration allows cells to remain undisturbed during imaging, with no dipping objectives or sample scanning involved, allowing delicate samples to grow on the microscope stage over several days. This talk will demonstrate the capabilities of OptoRheo by studying two different cell culture systems, cell cultures grown in hydrogel and spheroid samples.</p>