Staining of cells is a basic component of pathology, allowing clinicians and researchers to identify different cell types and to track their activity. It can be a slow and laborious process, which can also cause disruption to the sample being analyzed. At University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a virtual staining technique that doesn’t require any actual staining while producing similar results.
They’re using infrared spectroscopic imaging to analyze the chemical composition of cells directly. By noting the spectral characteristics of light bouncing off the cells, the investigators were able to identify correlations that a computer can use to do quick pathology analysis. The researchers hope that the new method will drastically increase the speed of digital pathology studies, since manual aspects of staining and preparation may be avoided altogether.
Study in journal Technology: Stain-less staining for computed histopathology…
Source: World Scientific Publishing Co…