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Projects/Programs

Displaying 1 - 25 of 30

Advanced Spectral Analysis: Two-Dimensional Correlation Spectroscopy (2DCOS)

Ongoing
When a series of spectra are acquired from a sample as a function of temperature, pressure, electric field strength, concentration, or any experimental parameters, conventional spectral analysis is performed by monitoring the intensity change at a specific frequency. However, such a single frequency

Biofilm Models to Evaluate Structure-Function Relationships

Ongoing
Biofilms are complex 3D microbial structures that exist throughout nature including on our skin and gut mucosa, in waterways, and in soil. They are typically composed of multiple microbial species surrounded by proteins, polysaccharides, and extracellular DNA woven together into a hydrated matrix

Bioimaging

Completed
Imaging and image analysis are used ubiquitously in biological and biomedical research. One of the great advantages of imaging is its intuitive information content; much can be learned from just a glance at the data. On the other hand, these data generally contain a very large amount of untapped

Bioprocessing Laboratory

Ongoing
Current Capabilities Computer controlled liquid nitrogen biostorage system Two culture areas including 4 monitored CO2 incubators 2 Six-foot BSLII biosafety cabinets Measurements- cell count and concentration, STR typing, flow cytometry, cell volume size distribution, conventional transmission and

Broadband Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (BCARS) Microscopy

Ongoing
Impact There is a need for label-free chemical microscopy in medicine, biology and materials science. Most of the current methods use chemical labels that often disturb the distribution and nature of chemical components being investigated. The method we are developing enables noninvasive and rapid

Building Measurement Confidence for Cell Characterization

Ongoing
NIST collaborates with key stakeholders in industry, other government agencies, and academia to develop measurement assurance strategies and advanced measurement capabilities for cell characterization. Data and concepts developed through workshops and laboratory programs inform the development of

Cell-based Assay for Mechanistically-based Prediction of Cytoxicity

Completed
Ricin is a type 2 ribosome inactivating protein (RIP) belonging to the A-B family of toxins and is of particular interest because of its potential use as a biological weapon and the dearth of rapid and sensitive assays that could assist detection and decontamination. The ricin toxin inhibits protein

Development of Biomarker-based Systems for Cancer Detection and Therapy

Completed
Intended impact Although significant progress has been made in both the understanding and treatment of cancer during the last thirty years, it remains the second leading cause of death in the US. The cancer community has set a goal to eliminate cancer-related suffering and death by 2015. To achieve

Development of the NIST Prototype Advanced Biometrology Laboratory

Ongoing
Currently, NIST is investing in a new type of metrology laboratory that is focused on the unique reference material and high quality assay protocols that are needed in the regenerative medicine and biotechnology communities. The laboratory design is centered on automation that can set up 1000’s of

Evaluating Measurement Quality of Microfluidic Cell-based Assays

Completed
Impact and Customers Our work establishes metrics for measurement quality and reproducibility for cell-based assays within microfluidic devices. Many novel microfluidic devices are being created that permit new measurements or enable new biological functions to be tested; however, characterizations

Fluorescence Microscopy Benchmarking: Overview

Completed
A challenge in using microscopy is how to compare and validate data from different instruments, and how to determine that the microscope performance today is the same as yesterday. NIST is developing a practical, automated approach to implementing performance benchmarking methods that will

Label-free imaging of cells and their extracellular matrix by SPR imaging

Ongoing
Cellular remodeling of their neighboring environment, extracellular matrix (ECM), is an important biological process from development biology, to wound healing, to diseases and cancers – this is a challenging process to measure and quantify. Surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRI) has been

Live Cell Imaging of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Populations

Ongoing
As part of our program in Cell Biology , our live cell image program supports the advancement of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology in three ways: 1) Identification of process control measurements: A critical component to the translation of iPSCs into therapeutic applications is to

Measurement Assurance for Quantitative Cell Imaging by Optical Microscopy

Ongoing
Light microscopy is unparalleled as a quantitative technique for studying cell biology, but assuring that the results of measurements and analyses are accurate, repeatable and sharable is challenging. Here we provide information on reference materials, protocols and approaches for evaluating the

Measuring Cell Viability in Scaffolds

Ongoing
Project Goals Primary Goal: Advance measurements of cell viability in manufactured tissues Establish working group of industry stakeholders to guide work Develop model scaffold-cell-assay system for measuring cell viability in scaffolds Validate measurement system by orthogonal test methods Assess

3D Orientation Imaging

Ongoing
We have developed 3D orientation imaging methods for both infrared (IR) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) signals. The two approaches are complementary to each other. The IR-based 3D orientation imaging is broadly applicable to any pair of non-parallel IR transition dipole moments

Orthogonal Measurements

Ongoing
Definitions: Orthogonal measurements: Measurements that use different physical principles to measure the same property of the same sample with the goal of minimizing method-specific biases and interferences. Complementary measurements: Measurements that corroborate each other to support the same

Quantitative, Cell-based Immunofluorescence Assays

Completed
Analysis of signaling events within individual cells with microscopy imaging has several advantages over non-imaging techniques. The principal advantage of imaging cytometry over plate reader assays and even other single cell techniques such as flow cytometry is the potential for collection of