13:33 14 April 2011
Taking on the realm of microscopes, the powerful scanners at the University College London Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging render bee stomachs and embryo hearts in remarkable detail. The new centre employs advanced imaging techniques to examine important questions in bioresearch. New Scientist takes a peek at some noteworthy scans.
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3D mouse atlas
Researchers at University College London are using the power of micro-magnetic resonance imaging to detect structural abnormalities and their genetic cause. The MRI can pick up minute changes in the brain or heart like a hair-width hole in an embryo’s heart. Peter Scambler and colleagues are using the technique to study the genes responsible for this heart defect in humans. The centre figure is a composite of dozens of mouse embryos, which serves as an atlas to calculate the effects of a gene on anatomy. The higher magnetic field of the scanner allows the device to probe fine detail, capturing images with less than 40 micron resolution.
(Image: UCL CABI)