31 October 2023
Light can be used to non-invasively control living cells as it can be projected with high spatio-temporal resolution which is useful at the microscale. This property of light is exploited by the Dynamic Optical MicroEnvironment (DOME), a DIY microscope with an inbuilt projector module. The DOME can image microscale agents using a camera connected to a Raspberry Pi board. This allows for computer vision techniques to automatically detect and track the positions of agents. In this way, the DOME facilitates closed-loop control of light-reactive microscale agents and is designed to be low-cost, open-source, and modular.
While the projection module of the DOME can produce light patterns with high spatial and temporal resolution, the maximum irradiance (incident electromagnetic energy per unit area) that can be generated by its native LEDs is limited. Increasing the irradiance is crucial to enabling new biomedical applications such as inducing DNA damage.
In this work, EMERGE partners from the University of Bristol and collaborators look at how DOME's projection system can be adapted to include different wavelengths and different intensities required for biomedical and biological applications. By switching to a high-powered near-UV light source, they show that DNA damage can be caused by the Epi-DOME's projection system at a targeted location.
Read the paper in the link below.
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