Laboratory
Biosafety Level 2 wet chemistry lab, where human pancreatic, skin, and breast cancer cell cultures as well as macrophages are grown for research studies. In addition, various types of nanoparticles are synthesized for use as ultrasound contrast agents, drug carriers, photoacoustic contrast agents or photothermal therapy agents.
Glovebox in the wet lab, where an isolated environment can be created for working with hazardous or volatile materials.
The Leica DMI 3000 inverted microscope is used to observe and analyze cell cultures grown in vitro, magnifying cells up to 40x. A variety of observation modes allows the user to view samples in brightfield, darkfield, fluorescence, and phase contrast, each suited for a different purpose. The microscope is also equipped with software enabling researchers to capture color images, perform image overlays, and adjust/enhance their images during post-processing.
The cell culture room is equipped with an incubator, refrigerator, and a laminar flow hood, which provides a sterile environment for work with cell lines, including skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and macrophages.
The benchtop centrifuge allows researchers to spin nanoparticles and cells, separating them from their surrounding media, with or without filters. The refrigerated centrifuge provides speeds up to 14,000 rpm (20,800 x gravity) at an adjustable temperature of -9-40o C, and holds tubes ranging in size from 0.2 – 400 mL.
The High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Shimatzu system is set up to measure concentrations of drugs or molecules in solution. By switching out the column to one of 15 available in the lab, it can be used for separations or gel permeation chromatography. The recently upgraded software package assists by storing concentration curves and automating the separations process.
The UV/VIS spectrophotometer measures the extinction of light for a sample over the range of wavelengths from 200-1100 nm. The intensity and shape of the spectrum gives information about the composition of a chemical solution.
The WinProbe 32 channel system (WP32, WinProbe Corporation, North Palm Beach, FL) is combined with an ultrasound transducer and 19 optical fibers, used to image animals in vivo. The WP32 system can conduct real-time ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging, while simultaneously collecting radio frequency (rf) data from 32 channels.
The WinProbe 64 channel system (WP64, WinProbe Corporation, North Palm Beach, FL) is also available for our research. In addition to real-time ultrasound/photoacoustic imaging and capturing rf data from 64 channel at a time, the WP64 system perform real-time elasticity imaging, which detects tissue stiffness in order to diagnose tumors.
Based on various research topics and applications, several types of transducers can be used. For example, a prostate probe (middle picture) is connected to the WP64 system performing real-time elasticity imaging for prostate cancer detection.
The magneto-motive ultrasound (MMUS) imaging system consists of a magnetic field generator interfaced with an ultrasound imaging system. The magnetic field is generated by a solenoid, with an iron core to focus the field. To control the strength and frequency of the applied magnetic field, the electric current in the solenoid is adjusted using a function generator connected to a current amplifier or to a high current pulser. Two types of ultrasound imaging systems are used – one operating with an array of ultrasound transducers and another one equipped with a mechanically scanned single element focused ultrasound transducer.
A sample of the inventory of dry chemicals stored in the wet laboratory. Desiccant is used to keep hygroscopic chemicals from absorbing moisture from the air. Over 500 chemicals are kept in stock for the synthesis of materials used in ultrasound and photoacoustic diagnosis and therapy.
Another laminar flow fume hood in the wet laboratory, equipped with various gases and vacuums, required for working with certain chemicals.
The OPOTek VIBRANT laser is an Nd:YAG tunable optical parametric oscillator (OPO) laser system that provides a high energy laser beam at adjustable frequencies in the ultraviolet range, from 680-950 nm, and 1200-2400 nm. The OPO is used in a variety of our research areas, including photoacoustic imaging, photothermal therapy, and laser induced cavitation bubbles. Accompanying software allows for fine adjustment of the laser parameters. The New Wave Research, Polaris 532 nm laser (not pictured) is also used extensively in our research areas.
The wet lab is supplied with several basic pieces of equipment, including pipettes, hot plates, ultrasonicators, precise balances, oven, and stir plates, all assisting the incorporation of synthetic chemistry into the laboratory’s research.
