LK12971 - Researchers have now developed a technique to determine the mass
of cells and microorganisms with a standard
light microscope. Beginning in the 1950s, laboratories around the world have
concocted ingenious methods to weigh the tiny organic samples. Until now, however, these methods have all relied on custom-built
instruments, involved mathematical analysis, and sample preparations that are
often not compatible with living tissue. A new image-processing algorithm now enables
the reconstruction of the three-dimensional mass distribution inside cells from microscopic images. The method paves the way for
general microscope users to perform sensitive optical measurements of organisms
and individual cells at the picogram (trillionth of a gram) level.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Weighing Cells with Pictures
Physicists determine the weight of cells with a standard optical microscope.
LK12971 - Researchers have now developed a technique to determine the mass
of cells and microorganisms with a standard
light microscope. Beginning in the 1950s, laboratories around the world have
concocted ingenious methods to weigh the tiny organic samples. Until now, however, these methods have all relied on custom-built
instruments, involved mathematical analysis, and sample preparations that are
often not compatible with living tissue. A new image-processing algorithm now enables
the reconstruction of the three-dimensional mass distribution inside cells from microscopic images. The method paves the way for
general microscope users to perform sensitive optical measurements of organisms
and individual cells at the picogram (trillionth of a gram) level.
LK12971 - Researchers have now developed a technique to determine the mass
of cells and microorganisms with a standard
light microscope. Beginning in the 1950s, laboratories around the world have
concocted ingenious methods to weigh the tiny organic samples. Until now, however, these methods have all relied on custom-built
instruments, involved mathematical analysis, and sample preparations that are
often not compatible with living tissue. A new image-processing algorithm now enables
the reconstruction of the three-dimensional mass distribution inside cells from microscopic images. The method paves the way for
general microscope users to perform sensitive optical measurements of organisms
and individual cells at the picogram (trillionth of a gram) level.
