Academia

Paper by Marvin Tan, PhD Dissertation, UCLA, 2021

In his Ph.D. dissertation, Marvin Tan proposes a couple of techniques to measure the traction stress sustained by cells using gold nanoparticles and optical tracers. The mechanical properties of cells and tissues play important roles in governing the behavior of biological systems, hence his research work is relevant to many fields. Furthermore, an attractive feature of the latter method proposed is that a 2D field of the dynamic mechanical stress distribution can be obtained. In this technique, color spectra are recorded by an array of diffractive micromirrors embedded in an elastomer substrate. 

Marvin incorporated a Chronos 2.1 HD high-speed camera into his Diffractive Optical Tracers, DOTS, device. 

See the full case study: Cell Traction Force Measurement Platforms

Paper by J G Ortega-Mendoza, P Zaca-Morán, J P Padilla-Martínez,  J E Muñoz-Pérez, J L Cruz, and M V Andrés

In this paper, Ortega Mendoza et al. report on the experimental measurement of the growth of a microbubble that is generated on the tip of an optical fiber. They calculated the microbubble diameter by counting the number of fringes captured in an oscilloscope. The authors also compared those results with images from a Chronos 1.4 high-speed camera to verify the diameter of the bubble.

The researchers concluded that their proposed technique can be utilized to evaluate the microbubble dynamics that grow at the end of an optical fiber more cost-effectively compared to other methods. This is because the laser source is the same for the bubble creation as well as for the analysis of the microbubble growth on the fiber.

See the full case study: Monitoring the Growth of a Microbubble Generated Photothermally onto an Optical Fiber by Means Fabry–Perot Interferometry

Paper by C Combs, D D Seith, M J Bovyn,; S P Gross, X Xie, and Z S Siwy

Comb et al. set out to find out the maximum potential classification accuracy for single cells. To that end, the authors conceived a microfluidic device that submits individual cells to repeated deformations. This provides them with essential mechanical parameters. They tracked the change of shape of individual cells using a high-speed imaging system, then extracted cell features using deep learning models.

Their imaging system contained a Chronos 1.4 high-speed camera. It recorded the cells passing through the microfluidic device at a frame rate of 11,000 fps with a pixel resolution of 0.26 μm/pixel. 

See the full case study: Deep Learning Assisted Mechanotyping of Individual Cells Through Repeated Deformations and Relaxations in Undulating Channels

Paper by Ruihao Deng, MSc Dissertation, Northeastern University, 2021

An interesting scientific dissertation is provided by Ruihao Deng. In it, he captures beautiful images of liquid droplets levitating in an acoustic field. He reports two different resonant modes, a planar star-like shape and an out-of-plane bending mode a Chronos 1.4 high-speed camera was used to capture and analyze the droplet dynamics levitating in the acoustic field.

Dean was able to show that fundamental research work is possible in an affordable manner. His results open the possibility of exploring further applications of acoustic levitation in established as well as emerging fields. 

See the full case study: Liquid droplet oscillations in an acoustic levitator