Large Field of View Detectors for the Study of Organoids

Challenge Background

Organoids may be thought of as simplified versions of organs that have been produced in vitro usually from stem cells. They have a self-organised three dimensional structure and share many attributes with the corresponding organ. Organoid studies are proving ever more valuable since they are an effective way to closely recreate the physiology of various in vivo tissues and whole organs like liver or kidneys. Amongst the many areas that organoids have been used for are: preclinical models for cancer studies, screening of potential regeneration medicines, in the development of novel drugs and for drug efficacy testing. An example of how organoids can be used is given in the article Organoids in the study of liver development and cancer.

Imaging organoids effectively can be difficult as the large areas of cells that constitute the organoid under study need to be imaged in high resolution. Often this must be done in vivo and/or in three-dimensions to facilitate a more accurate understanding of the fundamental cellular processes we are interested in. The camera needs to have excellent sensitivity to be able to detect the low light levels that are inherent to the imaging techniques used such as spinning disk confocal laser microscopy (SDCLM) or light sheet microscopy (LSFM). In addition, the camera ideally should have a wide field of view so we can see as much of the subject under study in one view as possible.

Technology Solution

sCMOS cameras are known for their large sensor sizes and ability to run at high speeds which means that large areas of samples like organoids can be imaged in high resolution. The latest sCMOS cameras with back-illuminated technology are even more sensitive making them more effective at imaging under the low light regimes that are typical of experiments in this area.

Andor Camera Solutions for Study of Organoids

Andor highly recommend the Sona back-illuminated sCMOS camera for organoid studies in which sensitivity and field of view are of the upmost importance. Sona is perfectly suited to these studies due to the combination of sensitivity, field of view and speed. A near perfect 95% QE and low noise makes Sona highly sensitive. Sona 4.2B-11 provides a massive 32 mm Field of View from its 4.2 Megapixel sensor with 11 m pixels so that more of the organoid can be observed in a single image without stitching. Sona 4.2B-11 is also fast – 24 fps at full resolution (2048 x 2048) and 48 fps when high speed mode is used.