14 DAY TRIAL // University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers announce the development of a new type of optical microscope, which they say is capable of identifying and isolating rare cells inside large populations of mixed cell types. This achievement could have significant implications for biomedical studies. Basically, what the new microscope can do is look at a mixture of various cell types, and identify the ones researchers are interested in, before isolating them for further analysis. This capability is essential for finding biomarkers produced by major diseases, experts say.
Biomarkers are small molecules that are not produced naturally in the body, and that appear in the blood only when a certain disease is present. As such, its presence alerts doctors that the condition exists even if no outwardly symptoms can yet be identified.
Developing approaches to analyzing and detecting even the slightest concentration of biomarkers is a constantly growing area of research. If experts can do this, it could mean the difference between life and death for cancer patients, for example.
In addition to early detection and diagnostics technique, the new optical microscope could also lead to the creation of more effective methods for monitoring the progress of a disease during treatment.
Results from such analyses will tell doctors whether the therapies they decided to prescribe to their patients are working or not. When fighting against time, figuring this out as early as possible could also mean the difference between life and death for patients.
Currently, experts use digital cameras on microscopes to study blood samples, searching for biomarkers. While this technique does provide results, it takes a lot of time to apply. This lowers its effectiveness at actually helping patients.
“To catch these elusive cells, the camera must be able to capture and digitally process millions of images continuously at a very high frame rate,” explains UCLA study investigator, Bahram Jalali.
“Conventional CCD and CMOS cameras are not fast and sensitive enough. It takes time to read the data from the array of pixels, and they become less sensitive to light at high speed,” the expert adds.
Jalali holds an appointment as the Northrop Grumman Endowed Opto-Electronic Chair in Electrical Engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS).
The new microscope relies on the world's fastest continuous-running camera, which Jalali and his team developed in 2009. This photonic time-stretch camera technology is then combined with advanced microfluidics and real-time image processing to create the new tool.
Details of how the instrument works appear in the latest issue of the esteemed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).