In vivo blood flow imaging in mice
Mentors
Project Description
We have developed a method to perform high resolution blood flow imaging in a mouse brain. Our technique involves removing the mouse skull to be able to image directly in the brain. We would like to generalize our technique to image blood flow in different regions in a mouse, without “damaging” the mouse, that is without any requirement of surgery, etc.. However, imaging through thick skin is very difficult because of light scattering in tissue, which causes image blurring. We would like to explore the possibility of rendering skin more transparent using a tissue-clearing technique that has been reported recently. Our goal is to test this new technique to see if can enable us to perform blood-flow imaging deep in tissue.
Research Participant
Program: TBP REU
Andrew Alden, Research Experiences for Undergraduates.
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Research Goals
The main goals of this project are to test various tissue-clearing agents with mouse skin, whose recipes have been published recently. The agents are applied directly to the skin, with the hope that they can transiently render the skin more transparent, as advertised. This would allow simple, and relatively non-invasive, blood-flow imaging in tissue. This is a collaborative project with CELL-MET, a NSF engineering research center in cellular metamaterials at Boston University. The long-term goal of this research (beyond the duration of this REU project) will be to assess the viability of organoid cardiac patches in live mice, to determine if they can help repair diseased heart tissue. In the event tissue-clearing proves to be more difficult than anticipated, we will revert to our current method of blood-flow imaging, and the project will pivot to image analysis and quantification of blood flow in mice brains, as a function of mouse activity.
Learning Goals
1) Learn the basic physics of light absorption and scattering in tissue.
2) Learn how to operate a home-built microscope for in-vivo mouse imaging.
3) Participate in mouse-imaging experiments.
4) Develop image processing and analysis skills, using Python or MATLAB.
Basic skills that would be useful, though not required:
1) Facility with working with mice under anesthesia
2) Proficiency in computer programming (Python or MATLAB)
