Re: Automation of microscopy?

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John Oreopoulos John Oreopoulos
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Re: Automation of microscopy?

Search the CONFOCAL archive at http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
A very interesting commentary on this topic appeared recently in the journal listed below. I'd like to ask the community again if they think this is where microscopy is headed.

Title:
High-throughput microscopy must re-invent the microscope rather than speed up its functions

Authors:
Oheim, M

Source:
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY 152 (1): 1-4 SEP 2007


John Oreopoulos, BSc,
PhD Candidate
University of Toronto
Institute For Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
Centre For Studies in Molecular Imaging

Tel: W:416-946-5022



On 16-May-07, at 1:35 PM, Ed Monosov wrote:

Search the CONFOCAL archive at http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal Dear Judy,

You made my day, or month, or years.
Nobody said better than you and Leonardo.
With your permission I'll post your email on my web page and I'll also post the Leonardo's wisdom besides all our microscopes.
I hope people will read them

With all my respect,

Ed


Judy Trogadis wrote:
Search the CONFOCAL archive at
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

I'm replying because of my experience, not because of my age  :-)

Some of the replies to this query have elegantly oulined arguments on
the dangers of hyper-automation during image capture. I would like to
add the importance of actually sitting and studying a preparation or a
set of collected images. Simply put - the longer you look, the more you
see. You have to become familiar with the data, to know the range of
variability and then manually adjust settings so the captured images
truly represent what you see and answer your specific question. 

This can be extended to the analysis as well.  Users these days have a
'kit'-like mentality, follow the instructions and you will get results.
But if you haven't reviewed the images several times, you may have
missed a subtle, yet critical observation. I try to encourage users to
look for creative ways of analyzing the data, it's more fun (and gets
easier into journals). 

I have a sign posted beside one of the confocals, a quote attributed to
Leonardo Da Vinci
"It's not enough to believe what you see, you must also understand what
you see."

Judy


Judy Trogadis
Bio-Imaging Coordinator
St. Michael's Hospital, 7Queen
30 Bond St.
Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
ph:  416-864-6060  x6337
pager: 416-685-9219
fax: 416-864-6043
[hidden email]


  
[hidden email] 05/15/07 10:02 AM >>>
        
Search the CONFOCAL archive at
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal 


I'm very curious to know from some of the older and more experienced  
microscopists out there what they think about this trend, ie: I've  
seen that the newest models of the confocal microscope that we have  
(which is about ten years old now) comes with all sorts of buttons  
that flip the filters and focus the image automatically, etc. Is this 

really a good thing for microscopy, or, as the article points out, is 

it possible that it promotes sloppy image collection?


John Oreopoulos, BSc,
PhD Candidate
University of Toronto
Institute For Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
Centre For Studies in Molecular Imaging

Tel: W:416-946-5022

  

-- 
Edward Monosov, Ph.D.
Director , Cell Imaging & Histology
BURNHAM INSTITUTE for MEDICAL RESEARCH
10901 N. Torrey Pines Rd, 
La Jolla, CA 92037
Ph:    (858)646-3100 ext. 3206
Fax:   (858)646-3196
[hidden email]




George McNamara George McNamara
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Re: Automation of microscopy?

Search the CONFOCAL archive at http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
Hi John,

No. It's been there years. Most biomedical researchers do not need any of this.

As for the closing paragraph's,

"One crucial question is: will automated microscopy remain the realm of large consortia and imaging platforms that combine transversal expertise in a tight and large-scale academic–industrial partnership, or will it, via commercial products, make its way into the small- and medium-sized laboratories to fundamentally change the way fluorescence imaging is done today in cell biological research?"

My first involvement in N-dimensional automated microscopy was an Image-1/AT calcium imaging system on a Nikon inverted microscope, temperature controlled environment, motorized focus, filter wheel, shutter, CCD camera, in 1990 in a medium sized lab. UIC and its dealers had been selling such systems for years, as had other companies. The key fundamental technology at that time was not the hardware, but, rather, fura-2/AM. My first experience with automated microscopy was with a timelapse acquisition system 1981.

As for the author's statement, "surprisingly little effort has gone into miniaturizing and streamlining the microscope core itself", the nondescanned detectors on many multiphoton microscopes are already as streamlined as possible.

How productive have user's of the Till iMIC and LaVision's TriMScope have been? What new discoveries have been made with either platform? I have been underwhelmed by both as far as practical use. By comparison, I am a fan of AMNIS's imaging in flow approach (not that it has been used to make any stunning new discoveries to date).

I was happy to see that both Oheim's and Starkuviene & Pepperkok's articles are free access.

George



At 03:29 PM 9/28/2007, you wrote:
Search the CONFOCAL archive at http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
A very interesting commentary on this topic appeared recently in the journal listed below. I'd like to ask the community again if they think this is where microscopy is headed.

Title:
High-throughput microscopy must re-invent the microscope rather than speed up its functions

Authors:
Oheim, M

Source:
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY 152 (1): 1-4 SEP 2007


John Oreopoulos, BSc,
PhD Candidate
University of Toronto
Institute For Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
Centre For Studies in Molecular Imaging

Tel: W:416-946-5022



On 16-May-07, at 1:35 PM, Ed Monosov wrote:

Search the CONFOCAL archive at http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal Dear Judy,

You made my day, or month, or years.
Nobody said better than you and Leonardo.
With your permission I'll post your email on my web page and I'll also post the Leonardo's wisdom besides all our microscopes.
I hope people will read them

With all my respect,

Ed


Judy Trogadis wrote:

Search the CONFOCAL archive at

http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

I'm replying because of my experience, not because of my age  :-)

Some of the replies to this query have elegantly oulined arguments on
the dangers of hyper-automation during image capture. I would like to
add the importance of actually sitting and studying a preparation or a
set of collected images. Simply put - the longer you look, the more you
see. You have to become familiar with the data, to know the range of
variability and then manually adjust settings so the captured images
truly represent what you see and answer your specific question. 

This can be extended to the analysis as well.  Users these days have
a
'kit'-like mentality, follow the instructions and you will get results.
But if you haven't reviewed the images several times, you may have
missed a subtle, yet critical observation. I try to encourage users to
look for creative ways of analyzing the data, it's more fun (and gets
easier into journals). 

I have a sign posted beside one of the confocals, a quote attributed to
Leonardo Da Vinci
"It's not enough to believe what you see, you must also understand
what
you see."

Judy


Judy Trogadis
Bio-Imaging Coordinator
St. Michael's Hospital, 7Queen
30 Bond St.
Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
ph:  416-864-6060  x6337
pager: 416-685-9219
fax: 416-864-6043
[hidden email]


 

[hidden email] 05/15/07 10:02 AM >>>
       

Search the CONFOCAL archive at

http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal 


I'm very curious to know from some of the older and more
experienced  
microscopists out there what they think about this trend, ie: I've  
seen that the newest models of the confocal microscope that we have  
(which is about ten years old now) comes with all sorts of buttons  
that flip the filters and focus the image automatically, etc. Is this 

really a good thing for microscopy, or, as the article points out, is 

it possible that it promotes sloppy image collection?


John Oreopoulos, BSc,
PhD Candidate
University of Toronto
Institute For Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
Centre For Studies in Molecular Imaging

Tel: W:416-946-5022

 


-- 
Edward Monosov, Ph.D.
Director , Cell Imaging & Histology
BURNHAM INSTITUTE for MEDICAL RESEARCH
10901 N. Torrey Pines Rd, 
La Jolla, CA 92037
Ph:    (858)646-3100 ext. 3206
Fax:   (858)646-3196
[hidden email]






 

George McNamara, Ph.D.
University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine
Image Core
Miami, FL 33010
[hidden email]
[hidden email]
305-243-8436 office


cromey cromey
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Re: Automation of microscopy?

Search the CONFOCAL archive at
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

George & others,

Having seen up close how poorly the average grad student & post-doc do
"low throughput" microscopy, all I can imagine with high-throughput is
the ability to gather semi-meaningful data faster. Surely higher
through-put for screening would be great for specific applications, but
the thought of something like this being in the hands of people who
treat it like a magic black box worries me.

Under the microscope: The use of 'black box' techniques carries risks.
Nature 447, 116 (10 May 2007)
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v447/n7141/full/447116a.html

Doug

George McNamara wrote:

> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
> Hi John,
>
> No. It's been there years. Most biomedical researchers do not need any
> of this.
>
> As for the closing paragraph's,
>
> "One crucial question is: will automated microscopy remain the realm
> of large consortia and imaging platforms that combine transversal
> expertise in a tight and large-scale academic–industrial partnership,
> or will it, via commercial products, make its way into the small- and
> medium-sized laboratories to fundamentally change the way fluorescence
> imaging is done today in cell biological research?"
>
> My first involvement in N-dimensional automated microscopy was an
> Image-1/AT calcium imaging system on a Nikon inverted microscope,
> temperature controlled environment, motorized focus, filter wheel,
> shutter, CCD camera, in 1990 in a medium sized lab. UIC and its
> dealers had been selling such systems for years, as had other
> companies. The key fundamental technology at that time was not the
> hardware, but, rather, fura-2/AM. My first experience with automated
> microscopy was with a timelapse acquisition system 1981.
>
> As for the author's statement, "surprisingly little effort has gone
> into miniaturizing and streamlining the microscope core itself", the
> nondescanned detectors on many multiphoton microscopes are already as
> streamlined as possible.
>
> How productive have user's of the Till iMIC and LaVision's TriMScope
> have been? What new discoveries have been made with either platform? I
> have been underwhelmed by both as far as practical use. By comparison,
> I am a fan of AMNIS's imaging in flow approach (not that it has been
> used to make any stunning new discoveries to date).
>
> I was happy to see that both Oheim's and Starkuviene & Pepperkok's
> articles are free access.
>
> George
>
>
>
> At 03:29 PM 9/28/2007, you wrote:
>> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>> A very interesting commentary on this topic appeared recently in the
>> journal listed below. I'd like to ask the community again if they
>> think this is where microscopy is headed.
>>
>> Title:
>> High-throughput microscopy must re-invent the microscope rather than
>> speed up its functions
>>
>> Authors:
>> Oheim, M
>>
>> Source:
>> BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY 152 (1): 1-4 SEP 2007
>>
>>
>> John Oreopoulos, BSc,
>> PhD Candidate
>> University of Toronto
>> Institute For Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
>> Centre For Studies in Molecular Imaging
>>
>> Tel: W:416-946-5022
>>
>>
>>
>> On 16-May-07, at 1:35 PM, Ed Monosov wrote:
>>
>>> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>>> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal Dear Judy,
>>>
>>> You made my day, or month, or years.
>>> Nobody said better than you and Leonardo.
>>> With your permission I'll post your email on my web page and I'll
>>> also post the Leonardo's wisdom besides all our microscopes.
>>> I hope people will read them
>>>
>>> With all my respect,
>>>
>>> Ed
>>>
>>>
>>> Judy Trogadis wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>>>>
>>>> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>>>>
>>>> I'm replying because of my experience, not because of my age  :-)
>>>>
>>>> Some of the replies to this query have elegantly oulined arguments on
>>>> the dangers of hyper-automation during image capture. I would like to
>>>> add the importance of actually sitting and studying a preparation or a
>>>> set of collected images. Simply put - the longer you look, the more you
>>>> see. You have to become familiar with the data, to know the range of
>>>> variability and then manually adjust settings so the captured images
>>>> truly represent what you see and answer your specific question.
>>>>
>>>> This can be extended to the analysis as well.  Users these days have
>>>> a
>>>> 'kit'-like mentality, follow the instructions and you will get results.
>>>> But if you haven't reviewed the images several times, you may have
>>>> missed a subtle, yet critical observation. I try to encourage users to
>>>> look for creative ways of analyzing the data, it's more fun (and gets
>>>> easier into journals).
>>>>
>>>> I have a sign posted beside one of the confocals, a quote attributed to
>>>> Leonardo Da Vinci
>>>> "It's not enough to believe what you see, you must also understand
>>>> what
>>>> you see."
>>>>
>>>> Judy
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Judy Trogadis
>>>> Bio-Imaging Coordinator
>>>> St. Michael's Hospital, 7Queen
>>>> 30 Bond St.
>>>> Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
>>>> ph:  416-864-6060  x6337
>>>> pager: 416-685-9219
>>>> fax: 416-864-6043
>>>>
>>>> [hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>        
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> [hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]> 05/15/07 10:02 AM >>>
>>>>>>>        
>>>>>>>              
>>>>
>>>> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>>>>
>>>> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal 
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I'm very curious to know from some of the older and more
>>>> experienced  
>>>> microscopists out there what they think about this trend, ie: I've  
>>>> seen that the newest models of the confocal microscope that we have  
>>>> (which is about ten years old now) comes with all sorts of buttons  
>>>> that flip the filters and focus the image automatically, etc. Is this
>>>>
>>>> really a good thing for microscopy, or, as the article points out, is
>>>>
>>>> it possible that it promotes sloppy image collection?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> John Oreopoulos, BSc,
>>>> PhD Candidate
>>>> University of Toronto
>>>> Institute For Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
>>>> Centre For Studies in Molecular Imaging
>>>>
>>>> Tel: W:416-946-5022
>>>>
>>>>  
>>>>        
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Edward Monosov, Ph.D.
>>> Director , Cell Imaging & Histology
>>> BURNHAM INSTITUTE for MEDICAL RESEARCH
>>> 10901 N. Torrey Pines Rd,
>>> La Jolla, CA 92037
>>> Ph:    (858)646-3100 ext. 3206
>>> Fax:   (858)646-3196
>>> [hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>
>>>      
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
> George McNamara, Ph.D.
> University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine
> Image Core
> Miami, FL 33010
> [hidden email]
> [hidden email]
> 305-243-8436 office
>
>

--
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Douglas W. Cromey, M.S. - Assistant Scientific Investigator
Dept. of Cell Biology & Anatomy, University of Arizona
1501 N. Campbell Ave, Tucson, AZ  85724-5044 USA

office:  AHSC 4212         email: [hidden email]
voice:  520-626-2824       fax:  520-626-2097

http://swehsc.pharmacy.arizona.edu/exppath/
Home of: "Microscopy and Imaging Resources on the WWW"
Judy Trogadis Judy Trogadis
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Re: Automation of microscopy?

In reply to this post by George McNamara
Search the CONFOCAL archive at
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

Sorry, haven't had a chance to read this thread earlier - words like
"high-throughput" and "screening" implies to me that you already know
what you're looking for. That's great when you're at the hypothesis
testing stage, but how does that help you find a new observation?
Furthermore, once you acquire a lot of data very quickly, you still have
to analyze it - accurately and honestly.

Judy

Judy Trogadis
Bio-Imaging Coordinator
St. Michael's Hospital, 7Queen
30 Bond St.
Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
ph:  416-864-6060  x6337
pager: 416-685-9219
fax: 416-864-6043
[hidden email]



>>> George McNamara <[hidden email]> 09/29/07 2:14 PM >>>
Search the CONFOCAL archive at
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal 


Hi John,

No. It's been there years. Most biomedical
researchers do not need any of this.

As for the closing paragraph's,

"One crucial question is: will automated
microscopy remain the realm of large consortia
and imaging platforms that combine transversal
expertise in a tight and large-scale
academic*industrial partnership, or will it, via
commercial products, make its way into the small-
and medium-sized laboratories to fundamentally
change the way fluorescence imaging is done today in cell biological
research?"

My first involvement in N-dimensional automated
microscopy was an Image-1/AT calcium imaging
system on a Nikon inverted microscope,
temperature controlled environment, motorized
focus, filter wheel, shutter, CCD camera, in 1990
in a medium sized lab. UIC and its dealers had
been selling such systems for years, as had other
companies. The key fundamental technology at that
time was not the hardware, but, rather,
fura-2/AM. My first experience with automated
microscopy was with a timelapse acquisition system 1981.

As for the author's statement, "surprisingly
little effort has gone into miniaturizing and
streamlining the microscope core itself", the
nondescanned detectors on many multiphoton
microscopes are already as streamlined as possible.

How productive have user's of the Till iMIC and
LaVision's TriMScope have been? What new
discoveries have been made with either platform?
I have been underwhelmed by both as far as
practical use. By comparison, I am a fan of
AMNIS's imaging in flow approach (not that it has
been used to make any stunning new discoveries to date).

I was happy to see that both Oheim's and
Starkuviene & Pepperkok's articles are free access.

George



At 03:29 PM 9/28/2007, you wrote:

>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal 
>A very interesting commentary on this topic
>appeared recently in the journal listed below.
>I'd like to ask the community again if they
>think this is where microscopy is headed.
>
>Title:
>High-throughput microscopy must re-invent the
>microscope rather than speed up its functions
>
>Authors:
>Oheim, M
>
>Source:
>BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY 152 (1): 1-4 SEP 2007
>
>
>John Oreopoulos, BSc,
>PhD Candidate
>University of Toronto
>Institute For Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
>Centre For Studies in Molecular Imaging
>
>Tel: W:416-946-5022
>
>
>
>On 16-May-07, at 1:35 PM, Ed Monosov wrote:
>
>>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>><http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal>http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

>>Dear Judy,
>>
>>You made my day, or month, or years.
>>Nobody said better than you and Leonardo.
>>With your permission I'll post your email on my
>>web page and I'll also post the Leonardo's wisdom besides all our
microscopes.

>>I hope people will read them
>>
>>With all my respect,
>>
>>Ed
>>
>>
>>Judy Trogadis wrote:
>>>
>>>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>>><http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal>http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

>>>
>>>I'm replying because of my
experience, not because of my age  :-)
>>>
>>>Some of the replies to this query have elegantly oulined arguments
on
>>>the dangers of hyper-automation during image capture. I would like
to
>>>add the importance of actually sitting and studying a preparation or
a
>>>set of collected images. Simply put - the longer you look, the more
you
>>>see. You have to become familiar with the data, to know the range
of
>>>variability and then manually adjust settings so the captured
images
>>>truly represent what you see and answer your specific question.
>>>
>>>This can be extended to the analysis as well.  Users these days have
a
>>>'kit'-like mentality, follow the instructions and you will get
results.
>>>But if you haven't reviewed the images several times, you may have
>>>missed a subtle, yet critical observation. I try to encourage users
to
>>>look for creative ways of analyzing the data, it's more fun (and
gets
>>>easier into journals).
>>>
>>>I have a sign posted beside one of the confocals, a quote attributed
to
>>>Leonardo Da Vinci
>>>"It's not enough to believe what you see, you must also understand
what

>>>you see."
>>>
>>>Judy
>>>
>>>
>>>Judy Trogadis
>>>Bio-Imaging Coordinator
>>>St. Michael's Hospital, 7Queen
>>>30 Bond St.
>>>Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
>>>ph:  416-864-6060  x6337
>>>pager: 416-685-9219
>>>fax: 416-864-6043
>>><mailto:[hidden email]>[hidden email]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>><mailto:[hidden email]>[hidden email]
>>>>>>05/15/07 10:02 AM >>>
>>>>>>
>>>
>>>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>>><http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal>http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>I'm very curious to know from some of the older and more
experienced
>>>microscopists out there what they think about this trend, ie: I've
>>>seen that the newest models of the confocal microscope that we have
>>>(which is about ten years old now) comes with all sorts of buttons
>>>that flip the filters and focus the image automatically, etc. Is
this
>>>
>>>really a good thing for microscopy, or, as the article points out,
is

>>>
>>>it possible that it promotes sloppy image collection?
>>>
>>>
>>>John Oreopoulos, BSc,
>>>PhD Candidate
>>>University of Toronto
>>>Institute For Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
>>>Centre For Studies in Molecular Imaging
>>>
>>>Tel: W:416-946-5022
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>Edward Monosov, Ph.D.
>>Director , Cell Imaging & Histology
>>BURNHAM INSTITUTE for MEDICAL RESEARCH
>>10901 N. Torrey Pines Rd,
>>La Jolla, CA 92037
>>Ph:    (858)646-3100 ext. 3206
>>Fax:   (858)646-3196
>><mailto:[hidden email]>[hidden email]
>
>
>






George McNamara, Ph.D.
University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine
Image Core
Miami, FL 33010
[hidden email]
[hidden email]
305-243-8436 office
Armstrong, Brian Armstrong, Brian
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Re: Automation of microscopy?

Search the CONFOCAL archive at
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

Hi Judy, the latest HTS systems are really quite impressive especially
with regards to the data handling/mining/quantitation. As you point out
this may be the salient feature of these systems. I have seen many demos
recently and have been impressed. Don't dismiss this genre without
evaluation.
Cheers,
http://www.evotec.com
http://www.cellomics.com/
http://www.bdbiosciences.com/nvCategory.jsp?item=648444&action=SELECT&fo
rm=formTree_catBean
http://www.moleculardevices.com/


Brian D Armstrong PhD
Light Microscopy Core Manager
Beckman Research Institute
City of Hope
1450 E Duarte Rd
Duarte, CA 91010
626-359-8111 x62872
http://www.cityofhope.org/SharedResources/LightMicroscopy


-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] On
Behalf Of Judy Trogadis
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 7:20 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: Automation of microscopy?

Search the CONFOCAL archive at
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

Sorry, haven't had a chance to read this thread earlier - words like
"high-throughput" and "screening" implies to me that you already know
what you're looking for. That's great when you're at the hypothesis
testing stage, but how does that help you find a new observation?
Furthermore, once you acquire a lot of data very quickly, you still have
to analyze it - accurately and honestly.

Judy

Judy Trogadis
Bio-Imaging Coordinator
St. Michael's Hospital, 7Queen
30 Bond St.
Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
ph:  416-864-6060  x6337
pager: 416-685-9219
fax: 416-864-6043
[hidden email]



>>> George McNamara <[hidden email]> 09/29/07 2:14 PM >>>
Search the CONFOCAL archive at
http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal 


Hi John,

No. It's been there years. Most biomedical
researchers do not need any of this.

As for the closing paragraph's,

"One crucial question is: will automated
microscopy remain the realm of large consortia
and imaging platforms that combine transversal
expertise in a tight and large-scale
academic*industrial partnership, or will it, via
commercial products, make its way into the small-
and medium-sized laboratories to fundamentally
change the way fluorescence imaging is done today in cell biological
research?"

My first involvement in N-dimensional automated
microscopy was an Image-1/AT calcium imaging
system on a Nikon inverted microscope,
temperature controlled environment, motorized
focus, filter wheel, shutter, CCD camera, in 1990
in a medium sized lab. UIC and its dealers had
been selling such systems for years, as had other
companies. The key fundamental technology at that
time was not the hardware, but, rather,
fura-2/AM. My first experience with automated
microscopy was with a timelapse acquisition system 1981.

As for the author's statement, "surprisingly
little effort has gone into miniaturizing and
streamlining the microscope core itself", the
nondescanned detectors on many multiphoton
microscopes are already as streamlined as possible.

How productive have user's of the Till iMIC and
LaVision's TriMScope have been? What new
discoveries have been made with either platform?
I have been underwhelmed by both as far as
practical use. By comparison, I am a fan of
AMNIS's imaging in flow approach (not that it has
been used to make any stunning new discoveries to date).

I was happy to see that both Oheim's and
Starkuviene & Pepperkok's articles are free access.

George



At 03:29 PM 9/28/2007, you wrote:

>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal 
>A very interesting commentary on this topic
>appeared recently in the journal listed below.
>I'd like to ask the community again if they
>think this is where microscopy is headed.
>
>Title:
>High-throughput microscopy must re-invent the
>microscope rather than speed up its functions
>
>Authors:
>Oheim, M
>
>Source:
>BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY 152 (1): 1-4 SEP 2007
>
>
>John Oreopoulos, BSc,
>PhD Candidate
>University of Toronto
>Institute For Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
>Centre For Studies in Molecular Imaging
>
>Tel: W:416-946-5022
>
>
>
>On 16-May-07, at 1:35 PM, Ed Monosov wrote:
>
>>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>><http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal>http://listse
rv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

>>Dear Judy,
>>
>>You made my day, or month, or years.
>>Nobody said better than you and Leonardo.
>>With your permission I'll post your email on my
>>web page and I'll also post the Leonardo's wisdom besides all our
microscopes.

>>I hope people will read them
>>
>>With all my respect,
>>
>>Ed
>>
>>
>>Judy Trogadis wrote:
>>>
>>>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>>><http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal>http://lists
erv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

>>>
>>>I'm replying because of my
experience, not because of my age  :-)
>>>
>>>Some of the replies to this query have elegantly oulined arguments
on
>>>the dangers of hyper-automation during image capture. I would like
to
>>>add the importance of actually sitting and studying a preparation or
a
>>>set of collected images. Simply put - the longer you look, the more
you
>>>see. You have to become familiar with the data, to know the range
of
>>>variability and then manually adjust settings so the captured
images
>>>truly represent what you see and answer your specific question.
>>>
>>>This can be extended to the analysis as well.  Users these days have
a
>>>'kit'-like mentality, follow the instructions and you will get
results.
>>>But if you haven't reviewed the images several times, you may have
>>>missed a subtle, yet critical observation. I try to encourage users
to
>>>look for creative ways of analyzing the data, it's more fun (and
gets
>>>easier into journals).
>>>
>>>I have a sign posted beside one of the confocals, a quote attributed
to
>>>Leonardo Da Vinci
>>>"It's not enough to believe what you see, you must also understand
what

>>>you see."
>>>
>>>Judy
>>>
>>>
>>>Judy Trogadis
>>>Bio-Imaging Coordinator
>>>St. Michael's Hospital, 7Queen
>>>30 Bond St.
>>>Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
>>>ph:  416-864-6060  x6337
>>>pager: 416-685-9219
>>>fax: 416-864-6043
>>><mailto:[hidden email]>[hidden email]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>><mailto:[hidden email]>[hidden email]
>>>>>>05/15/07 10:02 AM >>>
>>>>>>
>>>
>>>Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>>><http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal>http://lists
erv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal

>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>I'm very curious to know from some of the older and more
experienced
>>>microscopists out there what they think about this trend, ie: I've
>>>seen that the newest models of the confocal microscope that we have
>>>(which is about ten years old now) comes with all sorts of buttons
>>>that flip the filters and focus the image automatically, etc. Is
this
>>>
>>>really a good thing for microscopy, or, as the article points out,
is

>>>
>>>it possible that it promotes sloppy image collection?
>>>
>>>
>>>John Oreopoulos, BSc,
>>>PhD Candidate
>>>University of Toronto
>>>Institute For Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
>>>Centre For Studies in Molecular Imaging
>>>
>>>Tel: W:416-946-5022
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>Edward Monosov, Ph.D.
>>Director , Cell Imaging & Histology
>>BURNHAM INSTITUTE for MEDICAL RESEARCH
>>10901 N. Torrey Pines Rd,
>>La Jolla, CA 92037
>>Ph:    (858)646-3100 ext. 3206
>>Fax:   (858)646-3196
>><mailto:[hidden email]>[hidden email]
>
>
>






George McNamara, Ph.D.
University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine
Image Core
Miami, FL 33010
[hidden email]
[hidden email]
305-243-8436 office


"EMF <COH.org>" made the following annotations.
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