Oftentimes cell biologists need to track multiple cells or other materials of interest over long periods of time. Gridded micro patterns on the microscope slide cover glasses provide the ability to trace and retrace the position of analyzed cells/materials. Currently available gridded cover glasses use an etched glass grid pattern which is difficult for untrained users to recognize in phase contrast and impossible to visualize in fluorescence microscopy. (more...)

Improved reliability of fingerprint authentication is achieved through a unique vascular fingerprint which increases accuracy and verifies liveness. (more...)

Fluorine-18 (18F-) is an important isotope in radiotracer synthesis for positron emission tomography (PET). Fluorine-18 possesses many desirable properties such as a strong and stable C-F bond, relatively low energy, and a half-life that provides sufficient time for local shipping. Radiosynthesis of the majority of PET probes involves the concentration of the F18­fluoride ion, followed by several cycles of azeotropic distillation to remove all the water. The dried and activated 18F is then transferred to the microfluidic or capillary microreactor for subsequent fluorination steps. These steps have traditionally mandated a scale of production that is much greater than the required amount of isotope, leading to severe limitations in cost, speed of production and reaction efficiency. The inefficient production of the radioisotope is a restriction on further research and clinical study of new radiolabeled compounds. Novel approaches that can efficiently downscale the preparation and synthesis of PET probes have enormous potential in improving research and access to PET imaging.    (more...)

X-ray based imaging modalities are a vital and necessary component of medical procedures throughout the world. Without doubt, their use has made a profound impact on human healthcare over the last century, and has resulted in the alleviation of pain and a countless number of lives saved. Similar imaging technologies are currently being introduced into the security sector and can be used for scanning individuals for threatening devices such as security checks in airports. Despite their significant contribution to the fields of medicine and security, the potential risks associated with imaging modalities incorporating ionizing radiation cannot be overlooked. Cancer induction is the primary radiation-related risk from the low energy radiation produced by these imaging modalities. Radiation induced cancer risk depends on the dose absorbed in radiosensitive organs. An enhanced awareness of the risks associated with ionizing radiation and a significant increase in the use of radiation based modalities has emphasized the need for the advancement of dose reduction techniques in x-ray based imaging technologies.  (more...)

As the demand for photon detectors with greater sensitivity increases, Avalanche Photodiodes (APD) are being incorporated in conventional photomultiplier tubes (PMT) due to their high quantum conversion efficiency and small size. Nonetheless, the performance of these HAPD devices is degraded by the background noise that is radiated from the radioactive impurities contained in the photomultiplier components.      (more...)

Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) MRI is the clinical gold standard for in vivo myocardial tissue characterization and is useful for assessing tissue viability in patients with ischemic heart disease, myocarditis, cardiomyopathies, as well as other heart conditions. LGE MRI is also playing an increasing role in guiding catheter ablation treatments for arrhythmia. Cardiac pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), which are often implanted into patients with such heart conditions, impair the utility of LGE MRI by producing disruptive imaging artifacts. These artifacts manifest as bright contrast signals, image distortions, or signal voids. Combined, these artifacts drastically limit a physician’s ability to determine if scar tissue is present. Given that over 500,000 patients are implanted with ICDs or pacemakers every year in the U.S., the inability to have diagnostic LGE MRI imaging for these patients represents a significant hazard and unmet need. Thus, novel methods or approaches are needed to clarify LGE MRI images for these at-risk patient populations. (more...)

The chemical biology of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) especially hydrogen peroxide, is rather complex, as controlled generation of H2O2 is necessary to maintain cellular functions such as growth, proliferation, and immune system function. When present in high concentrations, it can lead to the oxidative stress in cells. H2O2 is a common ROS byproduct employed as an indicator for oxidative stress in conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes. It is therefore crucial to understand the roles and implications of H2O2 generation in biological systems. Molecular imaging of H2O2 with reaction-based fluorescent probes is a noninvasive method to monitor the chemistry of this reactive oxygen species in living systems. In this way, the specific spatial and temporal distribution of H2O2 can be elucidated within cells and tissues. (more...)

The improved resolution and amount of detail afforded by emerging electron microscopy techniques, such as serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBFSEM) enable researchers to explore previously unaddressed scientific questions. SBFSEM technique can reveal cell boundaries, e.g. sites of synapses, and intracellular components, such as synaptic vesicles and mitochondria. However, segmentation of the images generated by SBSFEM requires a trained expert to use automated algorithms or manually going through each slice to trace contours around the region of interest, thereby making it a time consuming and labor intensive effort. (more...)

Functional MRI (fMRI) based on blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal changes has had an enormous impact on basic neuroscience studies but has had little impact on clinical practice. The problem is that the BOLD signal is a good indicator of where neural activity has changed in response to a stimulus but it is a poor indicator of how much it has changed in an absolute sense due to the complexity of the BOLD effect. Because the BOLD response can vary across subjects even if the underlying neural activity change is identical, we cannot establish the kind of normative data that is needed for clinical applications. For this reason, the only clinical applications of fMRI are in neurosurgery planning, because the critical question in that application is: where is the activity? There is a clear potential for much broader applications of fMRI in evaluating neurodegenerative disease, but these have not yet developed because the critical question is the harder one of: how much has activity changed? Arterial spin labeling (ASL) measures cerebral blood flow (CBF), a well-defined physiological variable and in particular a quantitative variable for which normative data can be acquired as a basis for clinical applications. However, the ASL measurement tends to be significantly noisier than the BOLD measurement. For this reason, most quantitative functional imaging studies with ASL are performed using long, simple stimuli such that measurements may be taken in an “active steady-state” and repeated to improve signal to noise ratio (SNR). This limits basic studies of brain dynamics during conditions that better approximate everyday human experience where a stimulus pattern is unknown, and also limits the complexity of neuropsychological tests that could be employed in clinical applications to assess brain function. Although the sensitivity of the ASL method can be improved with background suppression to remove tissue signal, this eliminates any information present in the BOLD signal. An important advantage of acquiring both ASL and BOLD signals is that the dynamics of the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) also can be measured. The primary challenge is then: how can we best derive quantitative measurements of CBF and CMRO2 dynamics when the driving stimulus is complex or even unknown? (more...)

Researchers at University of California, Irvine, have responded to the worldwide growing demand for fast 3D microscopy in bioimaging, by creating iSPIM Box (Inclined Single Plane Imaging Microscope Box), an adapter for commercial body microscopes, which can be used to achieve high spatial and temporal resolution in live cell imaging with only simple sample preparation in common culture dishes. (more...)

Most quantitative functional imaging studies of cerebral blood flow (CBF) are performed using long, simple stimuli such that measurements may be taken in an "active steady-state" and repeated to improve signal to noise ratio (SNR). It is thus highly desirable to have a technique that could permit quantitative study of cerebral metabolic and hemodynamic activity under conditions that better approximate everyday human experience where a stimulus pattern is unknown. (more...)

The invention (software) relates to methods for estimating the strength of the hip (the proximal femur) for assessing osteoporosis and the risk of hip fracture. It can also be used for other applications for which the strength of the hip is important. In this context, the strength of the proximal femur is defined as the maximum force that can be applied to the femoral head before the bone will break and no longer be able to support the applied force. It has been demonstrated previously that proximal femoral strength can best be estimated by combining quantitative CT scan imaging, which provides the bone geometry and density at each point in the bone, with a structural engineering technique called finite element (FE) analysis. In essence, this numerical technique subdivides a structure into many smaller parts (finite elements) which, together, explicitly represent the complex material heterogeneity and 3-D bone geometry as a mathematical model. Force or displacement is then mathematically applied to represent a specific loading condition, e.g. single-limb stance or a particular type of fall onto the greater trochanter. When the FE model is analyzed, stress and strain throughout the bone structure are computed. This information is used in conjunction with material failure criteria in various ways to estimate the strength of the proximal femur under the particular loading condition. Collectively, this technique is called, “subject-specific CT scan-based finite element modeling for calculation of proximal femoral strength." This invention disclosure pertains to a specific improvement to techniques for patient-specific FE modeling for predicting the strength of the proximal femur for loading from a fall onto the greater trochanter (more...)

In optical coherence tomography (OCT), Axial and lateral resolutions are determined by the source coherence length and numerical aperture of the sampling lens, respectively. While axial resolution can be improved using a broadband light source, there is a trade-off between lateral resolution and focusing depth when conventional optical elements are used. The incorporation of an axicon lens into the sample arm of the interferometer overcomes this limitation. Using an axicon lens with a top angle of 160 degrees, 10 μm or better-lateral resolution is maintained over a focusing depth of at least 6 mm. In addition to high lateral resolution, the focusing spot intensity is approximately constant over a greater depth range. (more...)

There is an ever-increasing knowledge base concerning the molecular signatures of specific diseases and their potential in personalized medicine. Within this context, “theranostic” agents are of particular interest since they combine in vivo imaging for diagnostics and therapeutics within a single system. Current structural imaging techniques do not capitalize on the molecular basis of disease to add specificity. While structure imaging is oftentimes sufficient to answer general clinical questions, it has been inadequate in assessing molecular characteristics of diseased tissues (i.e., tumors). At times, structural imaging techniques are unable to discern benign from malignant tissue, such as lymph nodes or lung nodules. New methods and compositions are needed to fill the void and expand the reach of therapy by allowing the visualization, characterization, and measurement of biological processes at the molecular and cellular levels. (more...)

More than 750 MRI images (axial, coronal, sagittal sectioning) and behavioral data from studies on the effects of drugs and alcohol on adolescent brain functioning. • Approximately 170-235 sections per orientation. • Available for reuse under a copyright license. Sample Images:  (more...)

University of California, Davis researchers have developed a computer algorithm that precisely measures the extent of brain atrophy on structural MRI images over successive time intervals.  The method achieves higher sensitivity and specificity than previous algorithms.  Due to the bias in images and in conventional algorithms, a penalty term reduces the algorithm sensitivity and localization, leading to an under-reporting of real change.  This algorithm restores sensitivity without losing specificity by also incorporating a priori tissue boundary information. (more...)

Nitrogen-rich tetrazines, have broad applications in biochemistry including small-molecule imaging, genetically targeted protein tagging, post-synthetic DNA labeling, nanoparticle-based clinical diagnostics, in-vivo imaging, as well as significant use in materials science, coordination chemistry, and the production of high energy materials such as those used in specialty explosives research. Among other uses, tetrazines can serve as coupling agents for molecular imaging compounds such as fluorophores or magnetic contrast agents, or even as ligands for metal catalysts or inorganic materials such as metal-organic frameworks. Tetrazines are also valuable synthetic intermediates, and have been elegantly deployed on route to several natural product syntheses. Despite the promise of tetrazines, the lack of convenient synthetic methods is a significant roadblock to their broader use and study. (more...)

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a medical imaging technique that follows radioactive tracers to produce a 3D image of functional processes in the body. The most prominent use of PET is in clinical oncology; by following the glucose surrogate fluorodeoxyglucose, physicians can visualize the uptake of this sugar, thereby facilitating tumor diagnosis and staging. In the liver, ribose is metabolized extensively. Thus, monitoring the state of this organ would be greatly aided by a PET tracer that specifically follows ribose. Such a probe could be used to not only diagnose liver cancer, cirrhosis, and hepatitis, but also to assess side effects of therapeutics on liver function. The potential market for tools to assess liver health is tremendous. The CDC places liver disease in the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States. With the ever-worsening obesity epidemic, the prevalence of associated liver maladies will only increase in the coming years. (more...)

The use of cell transplantation in the brain shows great promise for the treatment of human neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's disease or stroke. Indeed, pre-clinical studies in animal models have shown significantly improved neurological function following cell grafting. However, in human trials the results have been considerably more variable. This has, in part, been attributed to concerns with poor cell distribution within the target area. A further issue that has arisen with the challenge of scaling up from animal models to humans is the increase in the number of transcortical penetrations required to deliver therapeutic agents. For surgical cell transplantation approaches, cell sedimentation and impaired graft viability are also concerns that need to be addressed to optimize the use of this therapeutic avenue. (more...)

Brachytherapy is an advanced cancer treatment that delivers a targeted high dose rate (HDR) of radiation directly to the tumor. Brachytherapy is a widely used method for the treatment of various cancers, including gynecological and skin cancer. However, success of brachytherapy relies on accurate fit between the applicator and the patient surface. Currently used standard applicators usually fit poorly to the patient, resulting in air gaps that reduce the effectiveness of treatment. The invention herein provides a method to fabricate a mold of a part of the patient's body for the utilization of a brachytherapy applicator to treat various forms of lesions. (more...)

3D displays are increasingly popular in consumer and commercial application. Many such displays show 3D images to viewers wearing special glasses, while showing an incomprehensible double image to viewers without glasses. These stereoscopic displays provide a different image to the viewer’s right and left eyes to produce a three-dimensional (3D) percept. The most popular 3D display paradigm shows a pair of images on the same screen, intended for the viewers’ left and right eyes. The lenses of special shuttered or polarized “stereo glasses” pass images to the correct eye. A viewer not wearing these glasses sees both images superimposed; creating a “ghosted” double-image where two copies of objects appear overlaid.  Implementation of 3D displays has increased drastically, moving from a niche product a few years ago to mass market acceptance today with applications in entertainment, medical imaging, and engineering visualization. Currently, 3D glasses are required to view 3D images, but they’re not always desired by the user; in part due to the expense and in part because they interfere with other activities.  (more...)

Researchers at the University of California, David have discovered a new and more rapid method for predicting response to therapy in cancer patients with a non-invasive, highly specific optical imaging technique. (more...)

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a novel high resolution imaging technique, referred to as Photo-Magnetic Imaging (PMI), that combines the abilities of optical and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging systems. Images are created with PMI by heating tissue with a light (e.g. laser) and measuring the resulting temperature change with MR Thermometry. This change in temperature can then be related to a tissue’s absorption, scattering, and metabolic properties. PMI addresses the limitations of current optical imaging techniques by providing a repeatable, non-contact, high resolution optical image with increased quantitative accuracy. This technique can be used for a wide-range of applications including but not limited to imaging of small animals for research purposes. This technique may also be used in imaging the tissue and organs of a patient. (more...)

Thousands of severely disabled patients are unable to communicate due to paralysis, locked-in syndrome, Lou Gehrig’s disease, or other neurological disease. Restoring communication in these patients have proven a major challenge. Prosthetic devices that are operated by electrical signals measured by sensors implanted in the brain are being developed in an effort to address this problem.  Investigators at University of California at Berkeley have responded to this challenge by developing an algorithm to decode speech, including arbitrary words and sentences, using brain recordings from the human cortex.  a computational model is trained that determines how recorded electrical signals at specific brain sites represent different speech features, for example acoustic frequencies.  The trained model then takes as input novel brain recordings and outputs a set of predicted speech features.  Once these steps are accomplished, speech sounds are either directly synthesized or words are identified from the predicted speech features using statistical techniques.  The brain signal decoding algorithm can decode speech solely from brain signals and may permit communication via thought alone.    (more...)

Tumors have historically been removed through surgical intervention but recently many tumors are instead treated with needle tumor ablation. This is a procedure in which needles are inserted manually via a small skin incision, through the muscle and inner tissue layers, towards a tumor. The tumor is destroyed by applying energy through the needle (high frequency heat in the case of radiofrequency ablation and cold energy in the case of cryotherapy). The needle’s trajectory in relation to the patient’s body must be carefully monitored by CT or MRI scans to ensure that the needle does not damage collateral tissues such as blood vessels or other organs. Any displacement of the needle during the procedure may not only result in needle placement error, but could potentially lead to bleeding or rupture of the tumor and the in-situ release of tumor cells. Improvements in CT scan and MRI scan image resolution have advanced needle ablation therapy, allowing even small tumors to be easily detected. However, the need for continual imaging by CT scan results in the use of increased doses of radiation. Indeed, doses can be between 100 to 500 times greater than those used for conventional radiography. Furthermore, as small changes in needle positioning require repeat imaging, the operator must vacate the CT suite many times, adding a significant time delay to the procedure. (more...)

Surgery site markers, otherwise known as fiduciary markers, are used to mark the site of a tumor in the body. Some markers are made from 24 karat gold and are implanted at the tumor site during an operation to remove a tumor so that after the operation, radiologists can locate the remains of the tumor for the purpose of providing targeted radiation therapy. The isodensity of pure gold enables the markers to be visualized by virtually any form of radiographic imaging technology. Fiduciary markers are frequently used in post-operation prostate cancer radiation therapy because the prostate gland is known to migrate within the patient’s body. However, the technology has many other applications in various tumor types. The problem with these markers is that they can easily be dislodged from their site of deposition especially in loose or delicate tissues, such as tumors. (more...)

Tachycardia is a type of abnormally fast heart beating arrhythmia-a heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute at rest, whose symptoms include palpitations, dizziness, angina, heart failure, or ultimately a heart attack. One of the commonly used non-surgical methods to treat this disease is Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA). Physicians guide a catheter with an electrode at the tip to the area of the heart muscle where there is an accessory extra pathway where heart cells give off the electrical signals that stimulate the abnormal heart rhythm. A radiofrequency energy is transmitted to the pathway and destroys carefully selected cells in a very small area. By doing so, the area stops conducting the extra impulses that cause the tachycardia. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a novel therapy modality, which combines optical coherence tomography and ultrasound with a electrophysiology catheter for real-time monitoring of the RFA treated area of the heart. The invention will provide images with high resolution and high penetration depth. (more...)

An estimated 5.3 million Americans have AD, the most common form of dementia. For decades, diagnosis of AD has relied on the evaluation of cognitive impairment by neuropsychological tests. However, most medical experts now agree that AD actually begins long before patients exhibit clinical symptoms. Beta-amyloid (A-beta) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, the pathological hallmarks of the disease, actually appear in the brain much earlier. Recent efforts to identify these brain lesions early, including by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging or by cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) testing, have met with some success. Additional methods for early AD diagnosis may yield new progress in the development of therapeutics that can slow or stop the disease. (more...)

Lymphatic dysfunction has been found in many disorders from transplant rejection to cancer metastasis, but there is little effective treatment for lymphatic diseases. The cornea is an ideal site for lymphatic research due to its accessible location, transparent nature, and lymphatic-free but –inducible features. Because there are no pre-existing vessels to consider at this site, it is exceptionally straightforward and accurate to evaluate new lymphatic events in the cornea. Since lymphatic vessels are not easily visible, previous studies using the cornea have relied on traditional immunohistochemistry assays with dead tissues. Currently, there is no means of direct and harmless visualization of lymphatic vessels within live cornea.   Investigators at University of California at Berkeley have addressed this challenge by developing the first live imaging of corneal lymphatic vessels. Lymphatic specific dye is injected into the subconjunctival space to visualize lymphatic vessels at various stages in the cornea under a fluorescence stereo-, confocal, or two-photon microscope. Lymphatic vessels can be labeled in different colors to produce two-, three-, and four-dimensional images or live videos at a molecular level. The investigators have demonstrated a proof of principle in live mouse cornea. The technique allows time course tracking of dynamic lymphatic processes within the same tissue or subject over a short or long period of time. Live imaging of corneal lymphatic vessels allows visualization of lymphatic vessels in their natural morphology, state, and interactions with the local environment. Live imaging of corneal lymphatic vessels is readily applicable to patient examination as the lymphatic dye of dextran is bio-degradable and harmless to human health. (more...)

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy, a form of nonlinear optical microscopy, has gained enormous attention in the biomedical community for its potential to provide high resolution images at fast imaging acquisition rates. Typical applications of CARS include skin and superficial tissue imaging, often in an in vitro setting. Up to this point, a suitable device that enables the CARS imaging of tissues in vivo has not been available. However, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a novel, fiber-based imaging probe that is optimized for CARS to enable the label-free,in vivo probing of tissues. (more...)

There is a growing focus now on understanding how the fundamental cellular building blocks are organized and interact with each other. A tool is needed that can provide dynamic in vivo 3-dimensional microscopic pictures with nanometer resolution of individual molecules interacting with each other. Currently, fluorescence microscopy can provide detailed observations down to the single molecule level for in vitro experiments, and that single fluorophores can be detected in the membrane of living cells with good signal-to-noise ratios. However, it is uncertain whether this method can provide the required spatial and temporal resolution necessary for imaging molecular interactions in vivo. Although several advances have been made in improving the spatial resolution of optical microscopy, they all have their limitations. Some of these limitations include a limited ability to compensate for aberrations, a limited implementation for hydrated samples, constraints on sample size, and difficulty expanding to multi-color probes. Further, super-resolution approaches suffer from basic limitations of far-field optics such as spherical and chromatic aberrations. Although attempts have been made to correct these difficulties, none of these approaches perfectly corrects these imperfections.  (more...)

Molecular imaging plays an instrumental role in cancer research, clinical trials and medical practice. Bioluminescence imaging enables the visualization of genetic expression and physiological processes at the molecular level in living tissues by using a bioluminescence reporter, which is usually a genetic transfect from a firefly. This imaging ability opens possibilities for accelerating basic research and drug discovery by allowing in vivo imaging of various disease processes. Currently, the commercial bioluminescence imaging systems developed by Caliper Life Sciences (Xenogen), Kodak and Berthold are for planar imaging and qualitative analyses, and cannot accurately reconstruct a bioluminescent source distribution inside a living animal. Our proposed BLT techniques will allow reliable and accurate analyses on the bioluminescence probe distribution within a living small animal, and offer an excellent instrument to identify disease pathways, clarify mechanisms of action, evaluate efficacy of drug compounds, and monitor their effects on disease progression in animal models. (more...)

Researchers at the University of California Davis and Berkeley have developed a portable and automated system to measure physical function using wireless sensor and stereo camera technologies. (more...)

Current anti-angiogenic therapies for the treatment of cancer are a rapidly growing market led by Genentech’s Avastin® (bevacizumab). Avastin® and other anti-angiogenic therapies work by preventing new blood vessel formation, thus starving tumor cells of glucose and oxygen. However, due to rapid development of resistance, Avastin® has shown only modest increases in overall survival of cancer patients. Therefore, there is a significant need for therapies which can synergize with Avastin® and other anti-angiogenic agents to significantly increase patient survival. (more...)

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a functional imaging modality that directly detects neuronal activity with a millisecond temporal resolution. UC San Diego researchers previously developed a multi-core beamformer (MCBF, see SD2010-340) approach that reconstructs common-mode source time-courses and their correlations networks from noisy MEG data, without requiring both a priori information and expensive and impractical computation. However, the performance of MCBF degrades at low correlations and cannot reconstruct individual source time-courses.A detailed description for the related technology SD2010-340 can be found at http://invent.ucsd.edu/technology/cases/2010/SD2010-340.shtml. (more...)

In patients with stenosed heart valves, hemodynamic performance of the heart valve is routinely assessed to determine risk stratification and timing of intervention. Hemodynamic performance is also used to evaluate the success of a valve transplant and monitor the performance of the valve over time. Current measures of hemodynamic performance include measures of transvalvular pressure gradient, effective orifice area, and blood flow velocity.  These common criteria only allow assessment of forward flow and do not take into account paravalvular leak and paravalvular regurgitation (backward flow). Leak and regurgitation are commonly seen in stenosed valves, deformed prostheses, and particularly in transcatheter valves. Assessment of valvular hemodynamics during both forward and backward flow would improve risk stratification of patients and timing of interventions.      Valve hemodynamics during both forward and backward flow can be assessed by measuring energy loss. Until now, routine clinical application of energy loss measurement has been hindered by its invasive nature and a lack of simple tools to obtain the data. Energy loss measurement currently requires catheterization and placement of pressure transducers inside the artery on opposite sides of the valve in question.  A non-invasive and simple way to measure energy loss would provide clinicians with a tool to improve assessment of hemodynamics and improve patient care.      (more...)

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have developed a limited field of view (LFOV) single photon emission coherence tomography (SPECT) reconstruction technique that can be implemented on a multi-modality MRI/SPECT system. This technique may be used to obtain simultaneous MRI and SPECT images on a shorter time scale with improved resolution and at a lower cost when compared to other image reconstruction techniques. (more...)

Fluorous solid-phase extraction purification for solid-phase peptide radiolabeling (more...)

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a laser imaging system that accurately assesses the pulp vitality of a tooth. This system can assess and image the pulp vitality without pain to the patient and the method used by the system is non-invasive. (more...)

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a rotating gantry system that can be inserted and integrated into any magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to acquire images with a second modality (i.e. SPECT, PET, optical tomography, etc). (more...)

The invention and adoption of clinical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brought about a revolution in medicine because soft tissue could be imaged non-invasively in 3 dimensions with sub-mm resolution. Due to sensitivity limitations, clinical MRI has a difficult time achieving resolutions much below a millimeter. Currently there is interest in extending the resolution of MRI to the micro- and even nano-scale, but such resolution has only been achieved in the laboratory. The available methods to perform such high-resolution MRI would be impractical for non-invasive clinical diagnosis because they require invasive biopsies and because of prohibitively long measurement times. To meet these challenges, investigators at University of California Berkeley have developed a form of functional micro-MRI targeted for non-invasive clinical use on a patient. One particular application envisioned for this invention is the imaging of lymph nodes with single-cell resolution, to determine the presence of micro-cancers long before they present a medically significant problem. (more...)

BACKGROUND:   In the United States, over 1.5 million new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2010. It has been long established that early cancer detection is key to successful treatment. However, current methods remain non-specific and insensitive. And unfortunately, even if cancer is detected, there exists few effective cancer therapies that prevent cancer growth and progression. Treatments are needed that can home in on cancer cells and kill them before they proliferate and spread.   A key strategy for advancing the treatment of cancer is to address two large unmet needs – accurate cancer detection and effective targeted therapeutics.   TECHNOLOGY:   Investigators at UCSF have developed a COX-2 sensitive trigger molecule capable of detecting cancerous cells and releasing therapeutic agents to carcinomas and tumors. The trigger molecule has been functionalized and modified to release either activatable fluorescent moieties or anti-cancer agents upon enzymatic catalysis by COX-2, a cyclooxygenase enzyme previously shown to be expressed in a variety of tumors including head and neck, colon, lung, pancreatic and breast cancers.   When activatable fluorescent compounds, bound to the trigger molecule, undergo COX-2 directed cleavage from the trigger, they selectively label the cancerous cells within a tissue or organ. This technology has the added advantage of a high signal to noise ratio, which essential for cancer detection.   UCSF investigators have also taken advantage of the versatility of the novel trigger molecule to develop a novel targeted cancer treatment platform. They have created a method of binding anti-cancer drugs to COX-2 sensitive trigger molecules. This allows for the release of multiple drug molecules into a cancerous cell. (more...)

BACKGROUND:   Pancreatic cancer strikes more than 42,000 Americans per year and claims over 35,000 lives annually. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States. Early pancreatic cancer is frequently asymptomatic, thus resulting in malignant metastasizing tumors and poor prognosis by the time it is first detected. Unfortunately to date, there is no method for early detection of pancreatic cancer.   One of the hallmarks of early stage tumor growth is the continuous formation of new blood vessels by angiogenesis. It is thought that av-integrins and their arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) binding peptide facilitate neovasculature growth, and thus are promising targets for early tumor detection.   TECHNOLOGY:    Scientists at UCSF have developed a novel imaging tool that takes advantage of a new tumor homing peptide (termed iRGD) and can be used with existing imaging modalities for early tumor detection. These multivalent iRGD-biopolymers bind to integrin-expressing tumor cells, and subsequently are internalized into tumor cells and tissues. Our investigators have observed iRGD-biopolymers selectively binding to pancreatic ductual carcinoma cells in an ex vivo animal model for pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, in live animal studies using optical and PET imaging technologies, iRGD-biopolymers specifically incorporated into tumor sites.  (more...)

In the areas of diagnostic and discovery applications surface bioaffinity sensing using either SPR sensors or LSPR sensors is currently being used for the detection of proteins, antibodies and nucleic acids. By combining the advantages of both SPR and LSPR, researchers at UCI have developed Nanoparticle-Enhanced Diffractions Grating biosensors (NEDG) that are able to detect unmodified DNA at a concentration of 10fM. (more...)

  BACKGROUND: Regional anesthesia is performed by placing needles in specific anatomic locations of the body to administer medications (such as local anesthetics, narcotics, or steroids) near peripheral nerves. These procedures are traditionally guided by surface landmarks, nerve stimulation to evoke sensory or motor responses, loss-of-resistance to identify spaces, free flow of cerebrospinal fluid, fluoroscopy, or computed tomography scans. If not correctly identified, the needle tip can inadvertently puncture blood vessels, the lung, peritoneum, dura mater, peripheral nerves or the spinal cord, potentially resulting in injuries to patients.   Although fluoroscopy has been used to guide needle placement, exposure to ionizing radiation is an important consideration for both patients and practitioners. In addition, fluoroscopy is not generally recommended for pregnant patients. Fluoroscopy is an excellent imaging modality for identifying bony landmarks, but it does not provide identification of soft tissue structures such as nerves and blood vessels.   An increasingly popular alternative is to use high-resolution ultrasound to visualize needle placement. However, this technique is limited by poor needle tip visibility at steep angles of needle insertion. Therefore, there is a need for a technology that addresses the need for improved needle tip visibility at steep insertion angles to ultimately improve the placement of needles for regional anesthesia via ultrasound imaging.   SUMMARY: UCSF physicians have discovered a new method of design for attaining ultrasound visibility of needles and other interventional devices that works at all angles of needle insertion. The needles have been tested using commercial ultrasound scanners, and have been show to be visible at steep angles, even when the needle tip is slightly covered by bone. This new technology also reduces the need for long, shallow needle paths required to avoid steep angles. Since precise localization of the needle tip is essential to the safety and efficacy of ultrasound-guided interventions, this invention will reduce patient morbidity and increase the number and scope of procedures for which ultrasound guidance will be advantageous. (more...)

Determining oxygen levels in tumors is critical for advancing cancer diagnosis and therapy. A detailed knowledge of real-time changes in oxygen gradients within a tumor can assist in the profiling of tumor growth and improve the effectiveness of current treatment strategies, which function optimally at different oxygen concentrations. Small molecule luminescence has been suggested as a low cost, non-invasive alternative to traditional methods for sensing oxygen levels that are invasive, expensive, and/or lack sufficient spatio-temporal resolution to monitor real-time changes. In addition to sensing oxygen in tumors, luminescent small molecules, such as porphyrins, have been used for photodynamic therapy (PDT) to treat certain cancers by sensitizing oxygen for the production of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the utility of porphyrins has been hampered by low biocompatibility, lack of targetable delivery, and limited photophysical properties. The current invention describes a method for incorporating emissive porphyrins into proteins that offers a novel platform to enhance both oxygen sensing capabilities and targeted delivery to tumors. The bioluminescent proteins described not only have promising photophysical properties for biological use, but also are readily modifiable, biocompatible, and biostable. (more...)

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a dual modality MR/nuclear imaging system for diagnosing breast cancer. (more...)

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a breast anatomy imaging system that combines a position tracking system with a handheld optical imaging device. This combined technology allows the researcher and/or clinician to image cancerous versus normal breast tissue at intervals throughout the course of the therapy. A non-invasive near-infrared technology based upon diffuse optical spectroscopy (DOS) has been developed to quantitatively monitor tumor response to the pres-surgical chemotherapy. A tracking device associated with a handheld device can measure a region of interest in the breast tissue at each visit with approximately 1 mm system accuracy. Thus, diffuse optical spectroscopy is used to monitor tumor response in patients with locally advanced cancer throughout the course of the therapy. (more...)

Target definition is a critical step in treatment planning for radiotherapy. The success of the treatment hinges on the accuracy of the delineation of the target and organs at risk. One of the major difficulties with accurate target definition is that the target motion (for example, patient respiration) may cause significant motion artifacts in conventional free-breathing computed tomography (CT) scans. (more...)

In the last two decades, N-succinimidyl-4-[18F]fluorobenzoate ([18F]SFB) has been used as a radiolabeling tag for small molecules, peptides, proteins, and other biomolecules to yield radiotracers. These radiotracers can be used for in vitro or in vivo biological assays, such as binding studies or positron emission tomography (PET). An obstacle that prevents this labeling procedure from being widely used is that the radiosynthesis of [18F]SFB is time-consuming and complex. Multiple reaction vessels and several steps are necessary to produce the final tracers. Therefore, there is a need for a simplified synthesis of [18F]SFB that can increase radiochemical yield and facilitate automation. (more...)

Standard Positron Emission Tomography (PET) detectors utilize a two-dimensional array of long (high efficiency)and narrow (high spatial resolution) scintillation crystals coupled to photomultiplier tubes (PMT). Since theindividual PMTs are expensive and cannot be built small enough, the number of scintillation crystals in the standardarray (typically >32) is much larger than the number of PMTs (typically 4) used for reading out such crystals. Dueto this multiplexing, there is a limit to how many crystals that can be decoded by the same number of PMTs, orequivalently, how small the crystals can be. Thus, the detector spatial resolution in the standard PET detector islimited. Another limitation in the standard detector is caused by the light losses that occur due to light rayinteractions with the crystal surfaces. Only a small fraction of the light available from an annihilation photoninteraction is detected by the PMT. The light loss problem becomes worse as the array crystals get narrower andlonger. This limits both the signal-to-noise ratio of the crystal decoding scheme used to accurately position aphoton interaction (for high spatial resolution), and the energy resolution required to reduce the effects of photonscatter (for good image contrast). (more...)

Inflammation is a central occurrence in many neurodegenerative disease states such as Alzheimer's and cancer. It is said that sulfotransferases (SULT), a diverse group of enzymes important for the bioprocessing of both endogenous and xenobiotic compounds, play an active and pivotal role during inflammation. Therefore, monitoring of SULT activity during inflammation may serve as a diagnostic for disease states.  A common feature in the brain of patient with Alzheimer's disease is beta-amyloid plaques. Thus, Alzheimer's disease may then be monitored and detected by dyes that label beta-amyloid plaques in the brain. However, dyes developed to detect the advancement of Alzheimer's (i.e. Congo red) have demonstrated very limited BBB permeability. Also, no current methodologies allow for the examination of SULT activity in vivo. Therefore, there is a need for both a method and compounds that will allow detection and monitoring of Alzheimer's disease. (more...)

Brain development and aging, as well as neurological and psychiatric disorders are often associated with structural changes in the brain. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is one such neurological disorder, which afflicts up to 5.2 million people in the U.S. alone. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of AD relies on such limited tools as behavior monitoring and performance on standard neuropsychological tests. If therapy is to be maximally effective, AD needs to be correctly diagnosed as early as possible. (more...)

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a disease that leads to the fatal accumulation of B cells. It is the most common adult leukemia. The cause of CLL is unknown and there are no animal models of this disease. There are two forms of CLL, indolent and aggressive. Patients with aggressive CLL should immediately undergo chemotherapy but patients with the indolent form should not be treated. Currently there are no biomarkers that enable the facile distinction of the two forms of CLL and, consequently, patients do not always receive the appropriate treatment. (more...)

The invention is a method and probe design for obtaining quantitative optical properties and chromophore concentrations of tissue components in-vivo at superficial depths and "short" source-detector separations. (more...)

New materials and methods that enable the simple inclusion of 18F into cancer-targeting peptides that can be used as radiolabels for PET imaging (more...)

Patients suffering from moderate to severe cardiac failure can enjoy substantial improvements in quality of life and survival, when provided with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). However, this treatment has a 30% failure rate due in part to difficulties in characterizing intraventricular synchrony. Improvements in methodology could lead to appropriate patient selection and improved pacemaker positioning, resulting in enhanced therapeutic effectiveness. To redress these problems, UCSF researchers have developed software that permits the visualization and quantification of relevant parameters using a number of different imaging tools. Their novel method employs first harmonic imaging to the blood pool study, yielding a quantitative basis for treatment and evaluation. (more...)

Membrane type serine protease 1 (MT-SP1), or matriptase, is a serine protease that is over-expressed on the surface of epithelial cells involved in a variety of cancers, including breast, colon and prostate. UCSF inventors have developed a novel antibody inhibitor of MT-SP1 (A11) which gains potency and specificity through interactions with the protease surface loops and binds in the active site in a catalytically non-competent manner.  The A11 antibody has applications as a therapeutic, diagnostic, and research tool. (more...)

UCSF inventors have discovered a way to design dual-tuned RF coils and coil arrays that results in a simple and robust solution to highly efficient dual-tuned coil designs. This would significantly benefit hetero-nuclear MR studies and also parallel imaging that involves multiple nuclei. The proposed technique is successfully implemented in the design of a dual-tuned volume coil and a planar spine coil array at 7T, demonstrating the feasibility at 75MHz and 300MHz for hyperpolarized C13 applications. Compared with the conventional dual-tuned coil designs, this new technique provides an intrinsic decoupling between the two resonance modes, improved quality factors (Q factors), increased MR sensitivity, a similar magnetic field distribution at the two frequencies which helps improve the B0 shimming performance for non-proton nucleus in the study, and easy implementation and manufacture. Furthermore, the technology allows for greater compatibility, which can lead to the integration of the RF coils with the MRI machines themselves, and the capabilities of designing both regular dual-tuned coils and parallel imaging coil arrays in all different coil categories (planar type, volume type and half-volume type). The proposed technique is capable of designing highly efficient dual-tuned coils and coil arrays not only at ultrahigh fields but also at lower fields. In addition, this invention can be also used for generating circular-polarized fields for efficient signal transmission and reception. Compared with existing dual-tuned designs, the two fields of the proposed CMDM technique have a similar distribution, leading to a better and efficient B0 shimming for non-proton nucleus studies and ultimately improving heteronuclear MR sensitivity. The proposed dual-tuned coil technique would have an unmatched performance at high and ultrahigh magnetic fields when combining the proposed CMDM technique with the microstrip transmission line or other type of low loss transmission designs . (more...)

Researchers at the University of California have developed a fiber-based spectroscopic technique that can be used to quantify optical properties in superficial layers of tissue. (more...)

In many disciplines, quantitative measurements of color are required to evaluate nondestructively the state of an object (e.g., quality of produce). This characterization is typically performed using contact point measurement devices. A limitation of these devices is that multiple measurements are required to characterize an entire object; if multiple objects must be characterized, then this process may be time consuming. Furthermore, these devices interrogate both superficial and deeper structures in the object, and do not possess the ability to discriminate between these structures. (more...)

Many research inroads have been made into understanding data from human brain activity. New brain assessment devices beond classing EEG data, such as MRIs and PET scans, have increased this available data stream. However, the information is often only inferentially related to specific brain activity. There is an important need for individuals with limited physical capacity to control devices and communicate with others. Work towards this end has been persued in BMI research. There is the potential in brain activity sensing devices to provide these capacities by other means as well. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have made important strides in accomplishing these goals with software which can identify natural images from human brain activity. This provides an opterunity for a visual BMI. An encoding model is constructed that describes how visual stimuli are represented in the pattern of activity across visual cortex. The activity that the image produces in visual cortex has proven out to be systematically related to the particular visual stimulus that is being viewed at any point in time. Currently, the system identifies the image from a large, known set of potential images. The UCB model is a variant of those that have been developed by the sensory neuroscience community over the last 50 years. The current research suggests that fMRI-based measurements of brain activity contain much more information about underlying neural processes than might have been expected. In fact so much information is available in these signals that one day it may even be possible to reconstruct the visual contents of dreams or visual imagery. To identify which of the images elicited the measured activity the decoder scans through all possible images, and for each image it predicts what pattern of brain activity should have been elicited if that image had actually been seen. Then the decoder simply chooses the image whose predicted brain activity is most similar to the measured brain activity. The current research is described in Nature Letters, Vol. 452, March 2008. Decoding visual content is conceptually related to the neural-motor prosthesis BMI work build a decoder that can be used to drive a prosthetic arm or other device from brain activity. While the current research is focused on visual perception, other sensory systems, such as touch, taste, hearing, etc, are also amenable to analysis using the innovative software. The potential use of this technology in the legal system brings with it most of the problems that are already known regarding eyewitness testimony. UCB investigators for this innovation are: Jack Gallant, Thomas Naselaris, Kendrick Kay, and Ryan Prenger. (more...)

Human faces are arguably the most extensively studied object in computer-based recognition -- due in part to the many important applications in this field as well as the realization that challenges associated with face recognition are representative of challenges in generalized object recognition. A central issue in research of object recognition systems is the question of which features of an object are most important for recognition. The dominant approaches are based techniques such as Eigenfaces, Fisherfaces, LaplacianFaces, and variants. However, with so many proposed features, there is a lack of guidelines for practitioners, and to-date, face recognition methods cannot achieve satisfactory results compared to human performance. To address these challenges, researchers at UC Berkeley have examined this topic from the new context of the role of feature selection in face recognition from the perspective of sparse representation. This approach has led to an image-based recognition system that outperforms state-of-the-art alternatives. In testing, this approach achieve 96.5% recognition rate using 120 Eigenfaces on the entire Extended Yale B database. Other unconventional features such as severely down-sampled images and completely random projections performed equally well. For example, the holistic features given by images down-sampled to just 12 x 10 pixels achieved 92.4% recognition rate on the same database. (more...)

Detect breast cancer earlier using an innovative new computed tomography (CT) imaging system. (more...)

Construction of Multivalent Antibody scFv Through Cu(I) Catalyzed 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition (more...)

Aβ-binding Small Molecules for Alzheimer's Disease Treatment and Imaging (more...)