In-situ, label-free, real-time imaging of living tissue

This technology is a miniaturized swept confocally-aligned planar excitation (SCAPE) microscopy platform called MediSCAPE that can be used for in-situ, label-free, real-time 3D imaging of living tissues without the need for excision of the target of interest.

Unmet Need: Rapid, simple microscopy of tissue for surgical procedures

Surgical procedures commonly require assessment of tissues or tumors during operation, yet these evaluations can take minutes to days due to the complex steps involved, such as excision, processing, slicing, staining, and imaging. This lag time increases costs and can be detrimental to the success of an operation. Although real-time imaging systems have been developed, many are large and cumbersome, increasing production costs and limiting their utility.

The Technology: Miniaturized SCAPE microscopy platform for operations

This platform is a miniaturized form-factor swept confocally-aligned planar excitation (SCAPE) microscopy platform, modified to improve utility and practicality. The system allows for in-situ, label-free, real-time 3D imaging of living tissues, without any excision of the tissues, using oblique light-sheet illumination. Cellular structures can be visualized in 3D with high sensitivity, and the system also tolerates in vivo movement.

This technology has been validated in vivo, with freshly excised mouse tissues and human kidney biopsies.

Applications:

• Rapid diagnostics during operative procedures
• Diagnostic imaging for diseases
• Real-time imaging for in vivo research experiments
• Assessment of surgical margins and biopsy selection

Advantages:

• Rapid, label-free, in-situ imaging
• No excision or other impacts on tissue from labeling
• Miniaturized system for practical use
• Modular design allows additional features to be added simply

Lead Inventor:

Elizabeth Hillman, Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Status

Related Publications:

• Patel KB, Liang W, Casper MJ, Voleti V, Li W, Yagielski AJ, Zhao HT, Campos CP, Lee GS, Liu JM, Philipone E, Yoon AJ, Olive KP, Coley SM, Hillman EMC. “High-speed light-sheet microscopy for the in-situ acquisition of volumetric histological images of living tissue” Nat Biomed Eng. 2022 May; 6(5): 569-583.

• Xu L, Li W, Voleti V, Zou DJ, Hillman EMC, Firestein S. "Widespread receptor-driven modulation in peripheral olfactory coding" Science. 2020 Apr 10; 368(6487): eaaz5390.

• Voleti V, Patel KB, Li W, Perez Campos C, Bharadwaj S, Yu H, Ford C, Casper MJ, Yan RW, Liang W, Wen C, Kimura KD, Targoff KL, Hillman EMC. "Real-time volumetric microscopy of in vivo dynamics and large-scale samples with SCAPE 2.0" Nat Methods. 2019 Oct; 16(10): 1054-1062.

• Bouchard MB, Voleti V, Mendes CS, Lacefield C, Grueber WB, Mann RS, Bruno RM, Hillman EM. "Swept confocally-aligned planar excitation (SCAPE) microscopy for high speed volumetric imaging of behaving organisms" Nat Photonics. 2015 Feb; 9(2): 113-119.

Tech Ventures Reference:

• IR CU21147

• Licensing Contact: Kristin Neuman