Here’s how NASA’s image processing technology is being used in the study of diabetes:
Scientists at The George Washington University, Washington, and Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., helped modify the technology, which has greatly increased the speed of the research. “NASA technology combined with our modifications has provided us with new tools for fighting diabetes,” said Murray Loew, director of the Biomedical Engineering Program and professor of engineering at The George Washington University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science…
The original NASA technology helps scientists to classify image elements (pixels) and identify different types of landforms, geology and vegetation. In the laboratory, it’s been adapted to identify biological structures, the insulin granules, in electron photomicrographs. The research team observed the number, size, and position of insulin granules in the beta cells in response to glucose…
“Previously, the analysis of each electron micrograph took an assistant several hours to complete. Now, with the image processing software, we can automatically analyze several dozen electron micrographs overnight,” said Tim McClanahan, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
“We plan on an extensive collaboration in the future. The potential for this research is excellent,” said Geoffrey Sharp, a diabetes expert in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Cornell University. The team has submitted proposals to the National Institutes of Health and the American Diabetes Association to further validate the technology with additional data and to extend the work to identify and characterize other microscopic cellular structures.
The press release…
(hat tip: MTB Europe)