Imaging Core

Core Leadership and Personnel

The Director of the Imaging Core is Professor Enrico Gratton, PhD . Co-director Anand K. Ganesan, MD, PhD provides expertise in skin biology. Dr. Mihaela Balu, PhD, is an integral member of the core as the leader of the Nonlinear Optical Microscopy (NLOM) Lab, an imaging facility highly focused on applications related to in vivo and ex vivo skin imaging in both humans and animal models.

Contacts

Users are encouraged to make an appointment with Amanda Durkin (afdurkin@uci.edu) for using the imaging resources available at BLI and with Giulia Tedeschi (gtedesch@uci.edu ) for the LFD imaging resources.

Additional information about submitting orders is available on the LFD and NLOM websites and through iLab.

Imaging Technologies

The Imaging Core includes the following technologies:

LFD 

The LFD is a state-of-the-art laboratory for fluorescence measurements. It provides over 10 highly customized and commercial 2-photon laser scanning microscopes with added FlimBox devices controlled by SimFCS software to allow FLIM imaging. Many of these systems can be employed for ex vivo and live mice skin imaging.

Highly customized 2-photon laser scanning microscopes operating in non-descanned mode are using FLIMbox devices and Cambridge Technology mirror scanners, and are controlled by Globals for Images software:

• M1: Olympus IX81 microscope with Spectra-Physics MaiTai HP laser for GP, FCS, and FLIM.
• M3: Zeiss Axiovert S100TV microscope with with Spectra-Physics MaiTai HP laser (shared with M2) and Becker & Hickel SPC-830 card for FLIM.
• M5: Olympus IX70 microscope with Coherent Chameleon-Ultra II laser for 3D tracking.
• DIVER: Olympus BX & LCPlanFl microscope with Spectra-Physics MaiTai HP deapsea 680-1300nm laser and large area detector for deep tissue imaging.

Commercial one/two-photon confocal laser scanning microscopes with added FLIMbox devices and/or 3D tracking capabilities:

• LSM880: Zeiss LSM880 NLO with AiryScan.
• LSM710: Zeiss LSM710 system with AXIO Observer Z1 microscope and spectral detectors.
• STED: ISS Alba STED confocal lifetime imaging system with FLIM and Nikon Eclipse TE2000-U microscope.
• OLYMPUS: Olympus FluoView FV1000 system with IX81 microscope.

Click here for a complete list of the LFD shared resources and details on requesting service.

 

BLI

Leica SP8/FLIM/CARS. Leica SP8 is customized to feature the following imaging modalities: confocal fluorescence and two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) microscopy, second and third harmonic generation (SHG/THG), coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) and fluorescence lifetime microscopy (FLIM). Available excitation light sources: Insight X3 laser (SpectraPhysics) with dual output: 680-1300 nm, 120 fs and 1045 nm, 170 fs; cw lines and a white-light laser source for confocal fluorescence microscopy. Suitable for imaging of cells, tissue and animal models (in vivo).

Please, note this imaging platform replaces the Zeiss LSM 510 provided by our lab as shared resource for the past 15 years.

 

Fast Large Area Multiphoton Exoscope (FLAME). FLAME is a portable, custom developed multiphoton microscopy platform, highly optimized for efficient in vivo imaging of human skin in clinical setting. It provides contrast based on intensity and time-resolved label-free two photon excited fluorescence from keratin, NADH/FAD, melanin and elastin fibers. Collagen fibers are visualized through second harmonic generation detection. The studies on this system are performed based on approved IRB protocols.

Please, note this imaging platform replaces the commercial MPTflex provided by our lab as shared resource for the past 4 years.

 

Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging (SFDI). The available device based on the SFDI technology is a commercial imaging platform (Modulim, Irvine, CA) that enables quantitative, longitudinal assessment of cutaneous hemodynamics to diagnose disease and monitor therapy up to 5 mm in depth beneath the surface of skin. This device is available in Prof. Anthony Durkin’s SFDI Lab at BLI.

Laser Speckle Imaging (LSI). The available device based on the LSI technology is a handheld instrument that measures skin blood flow at depths of ~0.5 mm. This device is available in Prof. Bernard Choi’s LSI Lab at BLI.

Click here for a complete list of the BLI shared resources and details on requesting service.

Workshops, Tech Talks, and Seminars

The Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics annual workshop provides the opportunity of skin investigators to learn about the latest imaging methods. There is a specific focus group on NLOM methods in skin applications. Details about past and upcoming workshops can be found here.

The Beckman Laser Institute, through its LAMP seminar series, offers weekly talks on the latest imaging methods. Information about past and upcoming seminar can be found here. Please, contact Erin Miller (ewmiller@uci.edu) at BLI if you wish to be added to the mailing list for learning about these seminars.