Image Library
The Effect of Alzheimer’s on Blood Vessels
![An image of blue blood vessels with fluorescent red dots on them An image of blue blood vessels with fluorescent red dots on them](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/The%20Effect%20of%20Alzheimer%E2%80%99s%20on%20Blood%20Vessels.jpg?itok=TeezPYWZ)
Image showing a blood vessel affected with cerebrovascular amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in a mouse model. Amyloid deposits are found in Alzheimer's disease.
Source: M. Garcia-Alloza, Massachusetts General Hospital
Three-dimensional Reconstructed Image of Cells Grown in a Scaffold
![An image of a square of tissue with red, green, purple, and blue fluorescent colored lines An image of a square of tissue with red, green, purple, and blue fluorescent colored lines](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/Three-dimensional%20Reconstructed%20Image%20of%20Cells%20Grown%20in%20a%20Scaffold.jpg?itok=Las1T0BI)
Researchers are using emerging, high resolution imaging techniques to non-destructively visualize dynamic structural and functional properties of engineered tissues. These techniques let scientists study developmental processes, for example, changes in tissue microstructure. This image shows cells grown in a scaffold. The 3-D reconstructed image of the tissue reveals interactions among the cells, scaffold, and matrices.
Source: Stephen Boppart, UIUC
Diffusion MRI Reveals White Matter Architecture
![An image of a brain in the form of individual colored threads An image of a brain in the form of individual colored threads](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/Diffusion%20MRI%20Reveals%20White%20Matter%20Architecture.jpg?itok=tlhzIm-h)
New diffusion MRI technology provides unprecedented detail of the connections in the brain. The fibers are color-coded by direction: red = left-right, green = anterior-posterior, blue = ascending-descending.
Source: The Human Connectome Project
Smart Surgical Microtools
![An image of a green smear with yellow, red and black stripes](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/Smart%20Surgical%20Microtools.jpg?itok=umR19PDO)
In this fluorescence microscopy image, a microgripper the size of a dust particle closes around live cells (green) in response to heat or biochemical signals. Such tiny tools can perform more effective, minimally invasive biopsies of hard-to-reach tissues than is possible with today’s surgical equipment. Source: T. G. Leong et al.
Meiosis in Focus
![A black and white image of three cells](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/Meiosis%20in%20Focus.jpg?itok=NjkMKXgk)
This optical microscopy image captures the metaphase of meiosis I in a crane fly spermatocyte (precursor of sperm). Using a technique called orientation-independent differential interference contrast (OI-DIC), subcellular structures like chromosomes lining up along the spindle equator, tubular distribution of mitochondria surrounding the spindle, and polar flagella in the lower centrosome (appearing as a letter 'l' lying on its side) can be clearly seen. Source: Michael Shribak, Marine Biological Laboratory
High Power, Mini Microscope
![A photo of a small electronic device next to a dime to show scale](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/High%20Power%2C%20Mini%20Microscope.jpg?itok=zOI23Ht-)
Tucked inside the plastic cube is a powerful, high-resolution, lens-less microscope the size of a bumblebee’s hair bristle. Capable of using sunlight as the light source, the mini microscope can image blood cells and microscopic organisms with comparable clarity to a conventional light microscope. Source: Changhuei Yang
Fluorescence Microscopy Lights Up Nanoparticles
![An image of a red smear in the middle surrounded by green dots and smears](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/Fluorescence%20Microscopy%20Lights%20Up%20Nanoparticles.jpg?itok=UzkJYAGW)
This fluorescence microscopy image shows the distribution of two nanoparticles pumped gently into the brain. One particle (red) bound to brain tissue near the site of infusion while the other particle penetrated outwards several millimeters (green). Nanoparticles can be filled with either drugs or DNA for treatment of diseases including brain tumors, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's. Visual studies like this help determine what properties are best suited to deliver therapy to these diseases.
Source: Frank Szoka, Jr. and J. A. MacKay, University of California at San Francisco
Variations in Healthy Brain Anatomy
![An image of a brain made up of hundreds of multi-colored ovals](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/Variations%20in%20Healthy%20Brain%20Anatomy.jpg?itok=y-biUvJ1)
Using computer software programs, scientists combined brain MRIs from 20 healthy people into this composite image, in which ellipsoids represent normal anatomical variations. Pink purple ellipsoids, signifying the greatest variation, occur in brain regions that are uniquely human for example, regions that control language and logical reasoning. Blue ellipsoids, representing slight variations, occur in brain regions that control sensation and movements. Ultimately, this baseline data on interpersonal variability will allow scientists to distinguish normal anatomical variation from abnormal brain loss, such as that seen in Alzheimer's disease. Source: Paul Thompson, University of California, Los Angeles
3D Multi-Scale Modeling of Mouse Hearts
![A colorful circle with a hole in the middle and jagged outer edges](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/3D%20Multi-Scale%20Modeling%20of%20Mouse%20Hearts.jpg?itok=A1GSaPeh)
Researchers are using high-resolution immunofluorescence confocal microscopy to reconstruct 3D multi-scale models of ventricular electromechanics in wild-type and genetically engineered mouse hearts. Three different dyes illuminate various protein filaments involved in the tissue structure. Source: Andrew McCulloch and Stuart Campbell, University of California, San Diego and Robert Price, University of South Carolina School of Medicine.