The J. David Gladstone Institutes at the University California at San Francisco have developed and patented one of a kind microscope:
Background: A new invention – a robotic microscope – is opening the way for scientists to track changes in cells over time. Images collected by the microscope can automatically be analyzed within minutes by a computer program. For example, a user can ask the computer to measure cells with a specific morphology, amounts of proteins, or other features. The robotic microscope system is the brainchild of an Investigator of the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease.
Applications: The robotic microscope facilitates high-throughput cell biology. In a typical experiment, 300,000 cells are analyzed, a task that used to take 6 weeks. With the robotic microscope, it takes only 15 minutes. Another advantage of the new device is that the criteria used to define features of interest, such as markers of degeneration, are explicilty defined and uniformly applied by the computer program, eliminating user bias. The microscope can also be used to determine the rate of cell loss over time.
‘Robotic microscope: a tinker’s breakthrough; Neural disease researcher melds optics and computer software’ is the latest must read article at the San Francisco Chronicle …