Advances in digital microscopy, six dimensional image capture, analysis and visualization present significant opportunites to enhance scientific education. These developments can dovetail nicely with instructional technologies to create virtual, interactive, multi-dimensional environments in which students can explore questions about morphology, cellular and subcellular relationships in much more meaningful ways than are currently available.

This website describes a plan to integrate a newly obtained, high-performance research instrument -- the Zeiss 710 laser scanning confocal microscope -- into the educational program offered by the Biology Department at Wake Forest University.

Project Objectives

The acqusition of a Zeiss 710 laser scanning confocal microscope brings the best in microscopic imaging to the faculty and students at Wake Forest University. The goal of this project is to create an innovative, multi-functional space which enhances the research and teaching opportunties provided by the new microscope. The specific aims of this project are:
1. To provide the resources appropriate for data acquisition and sample preparation.
2. To provide the resources for faculty and student research teams to discuss and analyze imaging data.
3. To provide the technical and pedagogical resources and space for undergraduate laboratory courses to utilize the confocal microscope.

Background

Project History.

WFU was awarded a NSF Major Research Instrumentation award in 2007 to purchase a laser scanning confocal microscope. This award was the result of an interdisciplinary effort led by the PI, Dr. Anita McCauley, and faculty from Biology (Drs. Conner, Fahrbach, Johnson, and Muday) and Physics (Drs. Guthold and Williams). The Biology department has reallocated space in Winston Hall in order to convert Room 009 into a dedicated room for confocal microscopy and associated tasks.

Microscopic Imaging Capabilities.

The PI and faculty involved have selected the newly released Zeiss 710 laser scanning confocal microscope. This instrument is estimated to arrive in July 2008. The Zeiss 710 LSM possesses many significant new features and capabilities. Among these are full spectral imaging with no emission filters and down to 3nm step sizes; increases in signal to noise due to reduced laser reflection, new algorithms, almost no dark noise, and spectral recycling; and user control of collimation and alignment for calibration and diagnostics. Additionally, the design of the new laser module will allow easy replacement and upgrade of lasers in the future.

The 710 confocal scan head will be attached to an AxioObserver Z.1 inverted microscope. The inverted microscope body will provide versatility for live and dead, slide and dish imaging applications. The Z.1 is a fully motorized microscope, allowing software control of objectives; fluorescent cubes; transmitted, epi-fluorescent, and laser illumination; Z-position, and X/Y on the stage. This microscope will complement an existing AxioObserver D.1 in the main Core Facility, promoting greater user familiarity as well as accessory compatibility.

Room Renovation.

The goal of this renovation is to create a clean, comfortable, and most importantly, functional space which will serve four distinct needs: 1) confocal microscopic imaging; 2) sample preparation for confocal imaging; 3) teaching and discussion of confocal images; and 4) provide desk space for future graduate student assistant.

Funds awarded from the 2007-2008 Capital Budget are being used to renovate this room, including adding laboratory cabinets, a drywall partition, appropriate lighting and electric, and a small conference table. Jonathan Christman, Associate Professor of Design in the Department of Theatre and Dance, has graciously assisted in developing the design of this multi-functional microscopy room. Room design (plan, ceiling layout, Confocal room.pdf and perspective), cabinet layouts (exterior wall and Silver wall) and the lighting layout are available to view in pdf format.

Impact on Education.

While this instrument will have a significant impact on research programs, another goal of this project is to incorporate this state-of-the-art instrument into the laboratory curriculum. The immediate impact will be three-fold:
1) increase student exposure to modern technologies
2) provide opportunites for new laboratory activities and improve existing activites
3) present information to students in a highly relevant, multi-dimensional, interactive, digital format.

A summary of the plan to incorporate this microscope into the curriculum, as well as a listing of courses that will be immediately impacted, as presented in the NSF grant proposal is available. Two Cell Biology laboratory activities, designed for use with the confocal microscope, have already been prepared and are ready to be implemented. One laboratory focuses on the process of cell differentiation and the other on organelle distribution.

Instructional Technology Needs

Pedagogical Tools.

Monitor.

This teaching and conference space requires a 42-55 inch flat panel display (LCD or plasma) that will be wall mounted. This monitor will serve two purposes: 1) to display the output from the confocal microscope and software directly to a large group of students and 2) to display the video output from faculty or student laptop computers for teaching, group discussion, and image analysis.

Interactive Digital Platform.

Smart Technologies (http://www.smarttech.com) has recently released an interactive display frame which can convert an existing digital display into an interactive educational tool. This frame, which mounts around the display, allows meaningful methods for interacting with microscope images, including labeling structures and annotating images. The resulting images are saved with these modifications and therefore make an outstanding teaching tool. This frame will provide the same functionality of a SMARTBoard, but without the need for a front-projector and associated multi-media control workstation. A conventional whiteboard will also be mounted in the conference/teaching area for additional instructional needs.

Interactive Analysis.

Software

The Zeiss confocal software, Zen, will be used for image acquisition and manipulation and analysis. The complete license we have purchased includes modules for multi-time, Physiology, FRET and FRAP, in addition the base package. Additional copies of Zen will be available in order to enable offline image browsing and analysis. A second complete, licensed copy will ensure that users can access the full power of the Zen software offline, so as to not disrupt access to the confocal microscope for other users. A copy of Zen LE, the freeware version, will be available on the dedicated computer in the conference area to facilitate faculty and student discussion of acquired images.

Dedicated Room Computing Hardware.

Desktop computer
eNook storage cabinet
wireless keyboard and mouse

Student Hardware and Sofware.

Students will need to install the Zen LE software on their laptops in order to work with the images and complete their laboratory assignments. Students may also need to install ImageJ for additional image manipulation and analysis needs. The laptops made available to student should have sufficient storage space, RAM, and a graphics card capable of storing and displaying complex, multi-channel, three-dimensional images.

Connectivity and Data Storage.

Multimedia Connectivity.

Network Needs.

Server.

The Microscopic Imaging Core Facility has a dedicated server maintained by the department ITG, Mr. Jeff Muday. This server currently provides 1.25TB of backed-up storage space, which is currently at 3/4 capacity without the addition of the confocal microscope. The addition of a confocal microscope will greatly increase the demands for data storage. Users will be able to acquire multi-dimensional images, of which each image sequence may reach 200MB. When amplified across the number of images a user will need for each experiment and the number of users, this will likely exceed the current storage capacity. Therefore, funds dedicated to additional storage space will be required.

Measures of Success

Implementation in Core Labs.

Implementation in UpperLevel Labs.

Implementation into Graduate Level Courses.

Biology 775: Microscopy in the Biological Sciences.

This graduate level 1-semester course provides students with an introduction to light and electron microscopy, including brightfield, contrast-enhancing techniques, fluorescence, and transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Students are introduced to the principles of confocal microscopy and images acquired using widefield, deconvolution, and confocal imaging are compared.