AT Osaka University in Japan researchers have developed a new high speed system that slices and images brains significantly faster than previous approaches. These days it can take up to a week to slice, stain, image, and reconstruct brains in lab studies at a subcellular resolution. The number of slices is astounding, but by automating the process, the new block-face serial microscopy tomography (FAST) system can image the whole brain in less than two and a half hours.
The setup consists of a spinning confocal microscope and slicer, as well as a staining mechanism that work together in unison to systematically go through the brain slice by slice. It works on larger brains as well, as the researchers tested it on a brain of a marmoset, a New World monkey, and human brains as well, achieving the same level of precision, but of course taking more time than with a mouse brain.
The new device should certainly help neuroscientists to construct novel experiments that will answer many questions currently hidden due to limits of contemporary technology.
Study in journal Neuron: High-Speed and Scalable Whole-Brain Imaging in Rodents and Primates…
Via: Osaka University…