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In the shortish run:
1) Create an information management system that helps organize the images from multiple plates and allows users to see how a plate that has been scanned multiple times changes over time.
2) Build an inverted version of the microscope. (This might also be more useful for those imaging cells.)
3) Implement fluorescence imaging for crystals that have been labeled with trace amounts of fluorophore a la Pusey et al., 2015.
In the longer run:
1) Build a small hotel and associated software.
2) Implement automated alignment and focusing via sensors and image processing.
3) Implement an automated crystal identification system. Significant work along these lines has already been done by others, but the results were mixed when I tried to implement them on the z-stacked images I collected of crystallization drops containing small, poorly formed crystals.
General design goals:
1) Keep the improvements in the public domain.
2) Keep the cost of the device relatively low.
3) Limit the use of proprietary software.
4) Make the assembly and use as simple as possible.
If you'd like to help (or have thoughts on other
improvements)
Write me at Andrew.Bohm@tufts.edu
Andrew
Bohm, Ph.D.
Associate Professor,
Department of
Developmental, Molecular, and Chemical Biology
Tufts University
School of Medicine