Status:
ReviewerMember since: 2016
Organization: University of York
Exploring the use of this equipment to make novel discoveries in our research
Application Area: Label-free Live Cell Imaging of Primary Prostate Epithelial Cells
"We have been using the Phasefocus VL21 to carry out label-free live cell imaging of primary prostate epithelial cells. We are interested in characterising cellular heterogeneity within our cultures as well as analysing response to drug treatment. There is a dedicated team at Phasefocus that are very approachable and helpful and committed to providing customers with what they need to answer their biological questions. There is a learning curve when starting to use the equipment, but this may be because I am a novice in the live cell imaging field. There are many options to choose in terms of the type of data that can be generated by the bespoke software. With every cell being a single data point, and with several days of imaging to analyse, the amount of data that can be generated is astounding. The key is the ability to generate both morphological data about each cell (volume, size, sphericity etc) as well as kinetic data (e.g. cell speed, meandering index). Significantly, all this data is generated without any fluorescent labelling required. This equipment could be used in two ways; (1) if in a core facility, individuals could get a lot of unique information from a few strategic experiments. (2) whole projects could be dedicated to the use of the equipment to explore a model or a system in more depth. We have only begun to explore the potential of this equipment in our own research and we look forward to continuing to do so."
Status:
ReviewerMember since: 2010
Organization: King's College London
There is great scope for devices such as the VL-21 from phasefocus in high content.
Application Area:Stem cells
"Quantitative Phase Imaging is an exciting technology that carries several benefits compared to traditional live cell imaging. First, the cells are exposed to very little light and thus phototoxicity; Second, a virtual zero background facilitates segmentation; Third, increased content in the form of information on dry mass and its distribution within the cell can be exploited to improve tracking and potentially used to answer defined biological questions. Phasefocus has given us the chance to use their device and we are in the process of completing its evaluation and very impressed by its potential. The company has been extremely supportive to us and we are currently hoping to be able to raise resources to acquire this instrument or the more recently launched Livecyte."
Status:
ReviewerMember since: 2016
Organization: King's College London
there is great scope for devices such as the VL-21 from phasefocus in high content
Application Area:stem cells
"Quantitative Phase Imaging is an exciting technology that carries several benefits compared to traditional live cell imaging. First, the cells are exposed to very little light and thus phototoxicity.;Second, a virtual zero background facilitates segmentation; Third, increased content in the form of information on dry mass and its distribution within the cell can be exploited to improve tracking and potentially used to answer defined biological questions. Phasefocus has given us the chance to use their device and we are in the process of completing its evaluation and very impressed by its potential. The company has been extremely supportive to us and we are currently hoping to be able to raise resources to acquire this instrument or the more recently launched Livecyte."
Already known for its extreme ease of use, the Phasefocus Virtual Lens enables robust long-term time-lapse assays of unlabelled cells (including sensitive primary and stem cells) with minimal interference to the cells or growth conditions.
Individual cells can be tracked over periods of many days, producing multi-parametric quantitative data for every cell at each time-point. The Virtual Lens greatly simplifies cell-based assays by removing the need to label, fix or harvest cells - they are monitored fully automatically in their growth environment.
Virtual Lens Benefits:
Quantitative images enable label-free assays, often from a single experiment, including: