List of questions

What NIR fluorescent probes are to become important in the next 12, 24 and 60 months?

Does the Oxford facility have any developments of NIR fluorescent probes for deep 3D organoid and cleared tissue microscopy?

How do results of 3D image analysis compare to 2D image analysis results? Is there a relevant difference

For many years 2D image analysis has been used to do HCS and HTS, but now it seems that many results may be different if one does measurements with 3D data. In addition new methods in 3D cell culture made it possible to create organoids and spheroids which are more similar to tissue than 2D cell cultures

Is there a need to perform 3D image analysis of 3D tisssue in HCS applications or is it enough to look at the numerical output only ?

New methods in 3D cell culture made it possible to create organoids and spheroids which are more similar to tissue than 2D cell cultures. Is there a need to do 3D image analysis in HCS. In many cases 2D measurements may be sufficient to analyse these 3D structures.

How can virtual reality help to understand / measure biological processes? E.g. with an easy input for machine learning?

New technologies, like Virtual Reality are entering science with many very interesting applications. One of them might be the interactive and easy selection and classification of cells in 3D microscopy images to be used for training of machine learning algorithms.

Which solutions are on the market to address the visualization, analyses and sharing of increasingly large 2D,3D,4D image data sets?

Major improvements in microscopy, such as faster image acquisition at higher resolutions create rapidly increasing image sizes and multi-dimensional data sets. Standard image analysis software packages are on the market can not cope with these hundreds of GB or TB large images. There are however commercial solutions available with no limitations in image size and easy handling of large image data.

There is a wide range of confocal microscopy solutions available on the market today, including laser scanning, laser rescanning, spinning disk and now laser free techniques. What is it that current technologies can’t do (or don’t do well) that frustrates you?

Aurox are the suppliers of the Clarity laser free confocal system. Our question will follow soon

What do you ACTUALLY use a confocal techniques for? To simply get nice images, or are you looking for specific benefits due to the increased axial resolution etc. What techniques/features/methods are most important for different applications/areas of research?

Aurox are the suppliers of the Clarity laser free confocal system. Our question will follow soon

Do you have any niche market requirements that would be suitable for development by an SME

Digital Pixel have developed a range of vibration free heating systems specifically for Super Res microscopy applications. We have also developed gas controllers and cooling systems. We are looking for other products/developments that would compliment are product range.

What developments would you like to see from any of the various Core Facility Management Systems that you use?

We are keen to understand and identify the areas where development is sought in current Core Facility Management systems.

What emerging microscopy techniques do you see as becoming the most important over the next 6 – 12 months?

Please contact Louis Chawner for details on the question.

What needs do you currently have that are not currently met by the microscopy manufacturers?

To maximise your research output it is important to have an understanding of what products or services we should develop to support you.

TBC

TBC

What are the biggest challenges to routine utilisation of electron microscopy on biological tissue and how might they be overcome?

Confocal and super-resolution microscopy have brought the achievable resolution on biological tissue closer to the resolution of electron microscopes. However, imaging resolution on electron microscopes is still typically an order of magnitude better. In addition, electron microscopy benefits from a multitude of accessory analytical techniques, enabling an in-depth characterisation of each sample, such as the identification of inorganic substances embedded in biological tissue through the use of X-ray spectroscopy (e.g. EDS). Many of these imaging and analytical techniques have undergone significant technological developments in recent years making them faster and more sensitive. Our question is forward looking: what would be required in future development of these techniques, and electron microscopy in general, to increase further their use on biological tissue?

What are the challenges and advantages of site-specific TEM sample preparation under cryo conditions?

Background: Cryo TEM techniques are well established and are becoming increasingly popular, particularly in the life sciences. In addition, focused ion beam (FIB) SEMS are routinely used for TEM sample preparation in the physical sciences, providing the significant advantage of site-specific sampling. Cryo-FIB SEMs can now be used to prepare site-specific samples under cryo conditions, permitting a full cryogenic work flow from sample preparation through to final TEM (or even atom probe) analysis. How much of a benefit would this capability represent for researchers, and what are the main challenges associated with making a full-cryo work flow routine?

Which novel technique promises to drive the next step-change in microscopy research?

Background: Recent advances in microscopy have been the driving force behind significant research efforts across a range of scientific disciplines. These include the Nobel-prize recognised developments in super-resolution microscopy, the revolution of low-dose and low-energy transmission electron microscopy and the ever-widening reach of atom probe tomography, to name but a few. We are interested to hear from experts which new and emerging microscopy techniques hold the most promise for the coming years, and whether major gaps exist in available microscopy instrumentation. Should the focus of the microscopy community be to bring together a wide range of existing techniques in an integrated correlative approach, to develop further the currently available tools or to look to innovative, new microscopy solutions?

What are the prospects for lens-less imaging of dense tissues at centimetre-scale working distances?

We work in 3d visualisation and image guidance for microsurgery

What features are most important in future imaging technologies to aid in medical diagnostics and what are the current obstacles in bio-applications imaging?

Renishaw manufacture Raman spectroscopy systems which allow chemical images (maps) to be created. These systems are used in Bio-Medical research but there are barriers in getting the technique accepted for clinical use.

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Ref Martin Kerr's email. Other external organisations have allowed anyone else to take part in their discussions.