NIBIB - LBPS Instrumentation Research and Development

Home > Research > NIBIB Intramural Labs > Laboratory of Bioengineering and Physical Science

Instrumentation Research and Development

IRD Expertise
Intramural Research Projects
Accomplishments
Meet the IRD Staff
Publications

The LBPS Instrumentation Research and Development (IRD) group provides resources for conception, design, and development of specialized instrumentation for clinical and laboratory research. IRD scientists collaborate closely with other intramural investigators in their work, which is focused in three major areas:

IRD Expertise

Experimental design:
- Analytical instrumentation
- Microfluidic device design and fabrication
- Electrical and electronic engineering
- Mechanical design,
- Computer interfacing of instrumentation
Sensitive measurement techniques:
- Atomic force microscopy
- Optical and laser technologies
- Fluorescence and optical spectroscopy
- Novel reporter molecules
- Analytical ultracentrifugation
- Microcalorimetry
Mathematical modeling:
- Finite element analysis
- Statistical physics
- Complex data analysis

Intramural Research Projects

Optical Imaging is a non-invasive technique used to monitor biological function, locate diseased tissue, or assess therapeutics in tissue or whole animals. IRD has developed near-infrared instrumentation that uses laser excitation of fluorescent probes in combination with computational models of photon migration in tissue developed by collaborators in NICHD to locate precise targeted sites. IRD is also developing infrared instrumentation to assess organ functions during surgical procedures.
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) can provide topographic images at nanometer resolution and can also measure the viscoelastic properties of biological structures. IRD is developing experimental instrumentation and theoretical modeling to permit the study and quantification of the viscoelastic behavior of samples at cellular, subcellular, and molecular levels.
Microfluidic Devices can potentially perform biochemical analyses faster and on smaller samples than current technology. IRD is currently developing a flow-through device for quantitative multi-analyte immunoaffinity detection of proteins in microliter-size samples, in collaboration with researchers at NIST and the Nanoscale Immunodiagnostics research group, which is also under the umbrella of LBPS research. This technology will foster the development of similar microfluidic devices for a variety of scientific and clinical applications.
Optical Detection for capillary and microchip systems typically requires custom design when looking at multiple spectral regions or device channels. IRD is building a fixed-optics, multi-channel, multi-spectral detection system for polymer microfluidic devices, as well as a multi-color, laser-induced fluorescence detector for a capillary electrophoresis and micro-flow HPLC systems.
Computer-controlled, custom instruments, which are oftentimes essential for much of IRD's intramural research, are developed and refined for projects such as laser-induced reaction kinectics, animal motion studies, and data analysis.

Accomplishments

Laser capture microdissection (LCM) is a powerful technique that permits the clinical research investigator to select, capture, and transfer pure tissue samples as small as a single cell from a histopathology slide to a vial for analysis using molecular biology techniques. This technique and the initial prototypes were first developed within IRD and the technology has since been commercialized and is widely used in clinical pathology.
cDNA microarray printers and readers are critical technologies for gene discovery and to analyze gene expression in disease and other research investigations. IRD engineers fabricated microarray instrumentation and strive to improve its sensitivity in order to answer more challenging questions.
IRD developed instrumentation for analysis of chromosomal aberrations. A high precision, computer controlled, mechanical manipulator selects individual chromosome G-bands to permit preparation of chromosome probes, which act as unique markers of the G-band. Spectral karyotyping instrumentation identifies translocations, deletions, and other chromosomal abnormalities.
IRD has built instrumentation to perform real-time functional brain imaging and to localize lesions in patients undergoing craniotomy. Functional brain imaging requires highly specialized instruments for use in challenging environments such as high magnetic fields.