Application for a Light Sheet Microscope for Cleared Tissue for the Center for Advanced Microscopy

Project Summary/Abstract
This application is to purchase an AxL Cleared Tissue LightSheet (AxL CTLS) from 3i for imaging of
optically cleared samples. The Center for Advanced Microscopy is the only microscopy based core facility
on the Chicago Campus and supports approximately 750 users from 300 laboratories annually. The
Center for Advanced Microscopy has been supporting light sheet microscopy for 8 years with a Miltenyi
UltraMicroscope II system. Light sheet microscopy has been very successfully incorporated into the
workflows of many researchers at Northwestern University. Our UltraMicroscope II has been heavily used,
but it has reached end-of-life and will no longer be supported by the manufacturer. The instrument is
beginning to fail and in the past year we had 4 months of downtime for repairs. We seek to replace this
instrument with a new light sheet that has higher resolution, faster speeds and can accommodate a wider
range of samples. After testing several systems, we chose the AxL CTLS. Fifteen NIH-funded investigators
are Major Users of this instrument and the success of their 26 NIH funded research is dependent on light
sheet technology being available at CAM. Their research has a broad range of impacts across basic and
applied science fields from fields including surgery, infectious diseases and microbiology, immunology,
cardiovascular biology, developmental biology, neurosciences, and nephrology. Acquisition of the AxL
CTLS would enhance the research of these investigators and offer improved image capabilities than the
current instrument. The AxL CTLS would be a valuable acquisition not only for research carried out at
Northwestern University and the Chicago scientific community.

Grant Number: 1S10OD040116-01
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Constadina Arvanitis