Journal: Journal of Biomedical Optics

Article Title: Indocyanine green matching phantom for fluorescence-guided surgery imaging system characterization and performance assessment

doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.25.5.056003

Figure Lengend Snippet: Manufacturing overview for the ICG-equivalent fluorescence test standards: (a) 3D printed molds are polyjet printed by Stratasys Manufacturing Inc. using Vero White, Vero Black, and RGDA8510 materials to generate mechanically stable molds that incorporate tissue-equivalent material and prevent optical cross talk from adjacent wells; these molds are sonicated for 40 min and left to dry over 24 h before depositing the fluorescence mixture. (b) Fluorescence mixture manufacturing procedure involving the use of a two-part polyurethane, IR-125, hemin, and TiO 2 . The fluorescent mixture is deposited into the 3D printed molds and left to cure for 24 h, resulting in (c) the complete ICG-equivalent fluorescence standard (as imaged on the Li-cor ® Odyssey Clx using the 800 channel).

Article Snippet: The 3D printed molds are polyjet printed by Stratasys Direct Inc. (Los Angeles, California) using Vero White, Vero Black, and RGDA8510 materials to generate mechanically stable molds that simultaneously incorporate tissue equivalent and optically opaque material to mimic tissue optical properties and prevent optical cross talk from adjacent wells.

Techniques: Fluorescence, Sonication

Journal: Scientific Reports

Article Title: Identification of side effects of COVID-19 drug candidates on embryogenesis using an integrated zebrafish screening platform

doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-43911-3

Figure Lengend Snippet: Schematic representation of the experimental workflow. ( a ) Tg( fli1:EGFP );( myl7:mRFP ) embryos were used for the morphological assay (green: cytoplasmic GFP in endothelium; magenta: membrane RFP in cardiomyocytes). After drug treatment, between 96 and 104 hpf, the anesthetized larvae were transferred to 96 well plates with pre-formed agarose beds by a 3D printed mold. This is followed by image acquisition. Treated larvae positioned in a 96 well plate are imaged using a Smart Imaging Wide field Fluorescent Microscope Platform. ( b ) Image analysis. (1) Image analysis through a semiautomatic and blinded workflow based on a Fiji-macro. (2) To count the intersegmental vessels (ISV) the user draws a line (red line) along all ISVs. A kymograph along the Z-axis allows detection of local maxima. (3) The larval length from anterior to posterior (AP) is measured by drawing a line from the most anterior of the head to the most posterior of the tail. (4) Effusions are identified as shown in the examples. (5) For heartbeat measurements, hearts are detected with an automated threshold to generate a mask and a kymograph along the time axis detects the local maxima. For the deep learning-based analysis, image data of the ISV and the heart are manually annotated. The annotated data are used to train two different U-Net models. The ISV-Seg model is applied to segment each ISV and calculate the area. The Heart-Seg model is used to segment ventricle and atrium. The minima and maxima of the ventricular area along the time axis are used to calculate the ejection fraction. For the behavioral assay, wild type larvae were treated with the drugs and transferred to 96 well plates. The swimming of larvae with a defined light–dark exposure was recorded and the tracking data exported. ( c ) The results are collected and used for meta-analysis with Python. The results were presented as heat maps and in a customized online Streamlit data app.

Article Snippet: For lateral positioning of larval zebrafish in 96 well plates (Greiner) we used either a 3D printed mold provided by Acquifer Germany or a custom-made 3D print (Template: https://github.com/Alernst/CoVasc_DrugScreen/tree/main/3D_print ).

Techniques: Membrane, Imaging, Microscopy, Behavioral Assay

Journal: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)

Article Title: Development of a Robust Autofluorescence Lifetime Sensing Method for Use in an Endoscopic Application

doi: 10.3390/s20071847

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fabrication process of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) gel phantom to replicate the cancerous tissue. The process has two sequences: first, gelation of the high concentrated FAD sample in the 3D printed mold; second, pouring the low-concentration FAD solution into the cavity of the gel.

Article Snippet: A 3D printed mold is fabricated using UP Plus2 (Beijing Tiertime Technology Co. Ltd. Beijing, China).

Techniques: Concentration Assay