Meng Cui, a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute who will join Purdue in August, is the corresponding author of a research paper appearing this week (July 13) in the journal Nature Methods.

Findings in the paper detail the development of a new in-vivo imaging system that allows researchers to continuously monitor interactions between living cells in the brains of research animals. The system represents an innovative tool to study the dynamic signaling processes that underlie complex biological systems. 

“There are many areas of research that can benefit from in-vivo imaging, including neuroscience, blood flow and imaging of the lymph nodes,” said Cui, who will join Purdue as an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and biological sciences.

The in-vivo imaging system eliminates image artifacts that previously hindered the technology: it was too slow to keep up with dynamic processes in and between cells.

The system is equipped with a special lens that is focused using ultrasound waves.

"As a result, the optical focusing oscillates at ultrasound frequency and 3-D volumetric images can be recorded at high speed," said Cui (pronounced Tsui). “We can acquire a signal from different depths of the brain very quickly.” 

The Nature Methods paper was authored by researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Institutes of Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

The work is ongoing and will continue in Purdue’s Bindley Bioscience Center, said Cui, who plans to explore new research with faculty from biological sciences and engineering.