Browse Technologies

• 
• 
• 
• 

Vanderbilt University researchers have designed a system for non-invasive discrimination between normal and cancerous skin lesions. The system combines the depth-resolving capabilities of OCT technique with Raman Spectroscopy's specificity of molecular chemistry. By linking both imagining techniques into a single detector arm, the complexity, cost, and size of previously reported RS-OCT instruments have been significantly improved. The combined instrument is capable of acquiring data sets that allow for more thorough assessment of a sample than existing optical techniques.

Fluorescent labels having near-infrared (NIR) emission wavelengths have the ability to penetrate tissue deeper than other emission wavelengths, providing enormous potential for non-invasive imaging applications. However, advancement of optical imaging (particularly NIR imaging) is hindered by the limitation of narrow Stokes shift of most infrared dyes currently available in the market. Vanderbilt researchers have developed a novel NIR dye (4-Sulfonir) for multichannel imaging that enables in vivo imaging of multiple targets due to its large Stokes shift. 4-Sulfonir with its unique large Stokes shift (~150 nm) and wide excitation spectrum could be used in parallel with other NIR dyes for imaging two molecular events simultaneously in one target.

Vanderbilt researchers have developed an integrated system ("I-Wire") for the growth of miniature, engineered 3D cardiac or other muscle or connective tissues and their active and passive mechanical characterization. The system utilizes an inverted microscope to measure the strain when the tissue constructs are laterally displaced using a calibrated flexible cantilevered probe.