Slide scanning microscope for high-throughput tissue imaging

Understanding the structure and organisation of complex organs within the body, for example the brain, requires the ability to see the intricate components that make up that organ and measure where they are located and how they function. To understand the biology of disease we compare healthy people and those with the disease, to determine what has changed in the organs of those who are ill. Many diseases and disorders are highly complex, meaning they can have multiple causes and patients can display a wide variety of symptoms. Understanding this complexity requires the ability to image at scales that allow for meaningful comparisons within and across samples, typically needing many 100s of individual samples to be studied. Funding will allow the acquisition of a new microscope that has the capability to rapidly image from a very large number of samples. This microscope is motorised and fully automated, meaning it can run through the samples at high speed, producing large datasets with relatively few man hours of researcher time spent. The microscope also has the ability to detect the presence of multiple different fluorescent markers, which are used to stain the tissue to highlight key structures or cell types within the sample. The microscope will be housed within a state-of-the-art bioimaging facility at the University of Bristol, which allows access for over 400 researchers. Researchers will use this new microscope to gain deeper insight into a wide range of diseases, including immune dysfunction, arthritis and cardiovascular disease, as well as mental health disorders spanning depression, schizophrenia, autism and chronic pain.