Inside Baylor’s Optical Imaging and Vital Microscopy Core
This feature is part of a series that focuses on VIICTR.org, highlighting clinical and translational research at Baylor College of Medicine.
Only within the past few decades have microscopes evolved dramatically into finely tuned instruments capable of imaging large biological specimens with razor-sharp resolution.
Baylor College of Medicine’s Optical Imaging and Vital Microscopy Core provides state-of-the-art equipment, training, and support for 3D, vital, and intravital imaging studies that allow researchers to define complex cellular microenvironments and witness cellular behavior and function deep inside living tissues.
Core Director Mary Dickinson, Ph.D., explains how the core’s technology helps researchers obtain results, as well as elevate and support their science.
“Primarily the core has optical technology that uses light, and thus offers cellular and sub-celluar resolution; however we have also recently added a microCT system for imaging full volumes of fixed tissues and embryos at a similar level of cellular resolution,” Dickinson said. “Our goal in most cases is to be able to follow processes that are dynamic, such as physiological changes within a cell, in tissues, or in whole organisms or the pathological changes that occur in cancer, diabetes, or other diseases.”
Read the complete interview with Dickinson on VIICTR.org.
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