Ultra-Large Field-of-View Fluorescent Imaging Using a Flatbed Scanner

UCLA researchers in the Department of Electrical Engineering have developed a flatbed scanner based high-throughput fluorescent imaging system for detecting fluorescent micro-objects in optically dense media.

Fluorescence imaging is a widely used technique in life sciences and medicine with both in vitro and in vivo applications. Imaging through fluorescence typically requires a fluorescent dye that is specific to a subset of micro-objects and an imager to detect fluorescence. Fluorescent probes, tags and labeling have allowed for increased sensitivity and specificity, however, detection of these fluorescent particles have been cumbersome for analysis of micro-objects in bodily fluids. The samples often require special preparation steps in optically dense fluids such as blood, and the excitation or emission of the fluorescent particles is difficult to detect. To circumvent some of these problems, using a shallow field of view of 1 micrometer or less in combination with a fluorescent microscope has been used in the literature. However, these previous techniques are still limited in performance and costly if one were to scan volumes over 1 milliliter.

Researchers at UCLA have developed a high-throughput ultra-large field-of-view fluorescent imaging system that is based on modifying a flatbed scanner to detect fluorescent micro-objects in optically dense media. This technology uses customized microfluidic channels on modified scanner design to increase the area for detection as well as to improve the speed and reduce the cost for imaging ultra-wide fields of view such as >500 cm².

The fluorescent imaging system was able to detect sub-10-micrometer fluorescent particles in 2.2 milliliters of undiluted whole blood in less than 5 minutes.