Dual-chamber window apparatus for stable in vivo breast tissue imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for obtaining microscopic images of breast tissue in vivo are limited by the evaporation of moisture and inflammation caused by skin incision, making long-term and repetitive imaging challenging, especially for lactiferous ducts and vascular tissues, which are difficult to study in their physiological environment.
Innovation Solution
A window apparatus comprising two interconnected chambers with an open window design, a chamber holder for fixing the chambers, and a tilting mount to maintain the objective lens and cover glass in parallel, allowing for stable, long-term imaging of breast tissue without extracting the tissue, using a confocal microscope system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If skin incision is made to obtain breast tissue samples for imaging, then cellular-level and molecular-level images can be obtained, but moisture evaporation and inflammation occur limiting long-term imaging
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging system is segmented into two separate chambers: a first chamber for holding the breast tissue sample and a second chamber for holding imaging reagents. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each chamber's environment - the tissue chamber maintains physiological conditions for long-term viability while the reagent chamber provides optimal imaging conditions, thereby resolving the contradiction between image quality and imaging duration.
Solution Approach 2:
A transparent partition wall with a window acts as an intermediary between the tissue chamber and reagent chamber. This intermediary structure enables optical transmission for high-quality imaging while physically separating the tissue from direct contact with potentially harmful reagents, allowing long-term stable imaging without tissue degradation or inflammation.
2Measurement precision
If breast tissue is extracted for imaging, then cellular structures can be observed, but dynamic changes in living tissue cannot be studied
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the system into separate tissue and reagent chambers connected through a transparent partition, the invention enables both extracted tissue imaging and in vivo environment maintenance. The tissue can be held in a controlled physiological environment in the first chamber while allowing optical access for observing dynamic cellular changes, thus achieving both cellular structure observation and in vivo adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The dual-chamber apparatus serves multiple functions simultaneously: it maintains tissue viability for long-term studies, enables high-resolution optical imaging, and allows manipulation of the tissue environment. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by making the system adaptable to both extracted tissue observation and in vivo environment maintenance requirements.
3Ease of operation
If conventional imaging chambers are used, then imaging can be performed, but stable parallel alignment of objective lens and cover glass is difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting structure merges the objective lens holder and cover glass holder into a single integrated assembly with a fixed geometric relationship. This merging ensures that the objective lens and cover glass maintain stable parallel alignment throughout the imaging process, eliminating the need for continuous realignment and improving both operational ease and alignment reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting structure is designed to maintain the objective lens and cover glass at equivalent optical potentials - specifically, in parallel planes at the correct optical distance. This equipotential design ensures stable alignment without introducing optical aberrations, making the system both easy to operate and reliable for long-term imaging.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables real-time, stable, and prolonged observation of cellular-level and molecular-level structures and interactions in lactiferous ducts and blood vessels of living breast tissue, maintaining the in vivo environment and allowing for the study of dynamic changes over time.
Implementation Method 1
A confocal laser scanning microscope using fluorescent signals is used to observe cellular-level and molecular-level phenomenon.
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed are a window apparatus for obtaining a microscopic image of in vivo breast tissue and a method for obtaining an image using same. According to an embodiment of the present invention, provided is a window apparatus comprising: a first chamber which has a ring structure, having an open window on the center, and has a cover glass disposed on the upper part and breast tissue placed on the lower part; a second chamber which has an opening window on the center, is coupled to the first chamber and is for supporting the breast tissue; and a chamber holder which is for fixing the first chamber and second chamber and has formed thereon a tilting mount placing unit on which a tilting mount is placed such that the cover glass and an object lens of a confocal microscope system stays parallel to each other. The present invention enables the biological environment of an animal to be maintained as well as cell-level and molecular-level microscopic images of in vivo tissue to be stably obtained in a long term.