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Axial Slices of the Brain

An image of a transparent brain with colored lines on axis

The primary eigenvector of the diffusion tensor in these two axial slices indicates the fiber orientation at each voxel. A transparent brain surface rendering provides a sense of position and scale.

Ronin Protien in an Oocyte

An image of an oocyte stained green to show an abundance of the Ronin protein

Image of an oocyte (unfertilized egg cell) with an abundance of a protein called “Ronin” which appears to play a significant role in the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells.
Source: Karen Hirschi, Baylor College of Medicine

Magnetic Resonance Elastography

An MRE image of a liver with red, yellow, green and blue spots with two arrows, one pointing at a red area and one at a blue area.

An image produced by a new, noninvasive way to diagnose liver fibrosis using a new technique called MR Elastography which uses sound waves to determine tissue firmness. Doctors are able to see inside the liver without biopsies. The red indicates diseased tissue while the blue indicates healthy tissue.
Source: Richard Ehman, Mayo Clinic

Instant Mobile Cervical Cancer Diagnosis

An image of the optical microscope

Image of a portable, fiber optic microscope that non-invasively characterizes and diagnoses precancerous and cancerous cells. Both low cost and battery-powered, this point-of-care device is ideally suited to low resource settings and facilitates immediate outpatient therapy.
Source: Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Rice University

Engineering Human Livers

An image of a small human tissue engineered liver on the tip of a gloved hand

Image of a mini bioengineered human liver that can be implanted into mice. This capability enables researchers to investigate how human livers metabolize drugs, to test susceptibility to toxicity, and to demonstrate species-specific responses that typically do not show up until clinical trials.
Source: Sangeeta Bhatia, MIT

Bioengineered Tissue Scaffold

An image of two gloved hands stretching a blueish material with white lines all over it

A biomaterial made from pigs' intestines which can be used to heal wounds in humans. When moistened, the material, which is called SIS, is flexible and easy to handle.
Source: Stephen Badylak, University of Pittsburgh.

Targeting Cells for Drug Delivery

Image of green nanoparticles entering two red cells and releasing their drug payload.

Image of nanoparticles entering the cell and releasing their drug payload. The cell skeleton is shown in red, the cell nucleus in blue. The green color inside the cell demonstrates that the nanoparticles entered the cell.
Source: Omid Farokhzad, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Self-administered Vaccine Patch

Image of a transparent hexagon with multiple dots on it being held between two fingertips

Image of a new vaccine patch that can be self-administered and does not produce biohazardous waste. The microneedles in the patch inject the vaccine into the epidermis layer and then dissolve.
Source: Mark Prausnitz, Georgia Tech

Building an Artificial Ovary

An image of a purple cell ringed in red with purple dots surrounding it.

Image of a baboon oocyte (unfertilized egg cell) surrounded by granulosa cells which help in the development of the oocyte.
Source: Northwestern University