Design and implementation of a custom built optical projection tomography system

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Imaging
• Developmental Biology
• High-Resolution 3D Imaging

Background:

• Optical projection tomography (OPT) enables high-resolution 3D gene expression analysis.
• Demand for cabinet OPT systems, particularly for mouse embryo phenotyping, has grown.
• Commercial OPT systems are no longer available, creating a need for alternatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a detailed description of a robust, custom-built OPT system.
• To provide a guide for researchers to build and install their own OPT system.
• To facilitate wider adoption of OPT in biological research.

Main Methods:

• Detailed hardware parts list and assembly instructions are provided.
• Acquisition software and calibration methods are described.
• The system utilizes stable translation/rotation stages and high numerical aperture optics.

Main Results:

• The custom OPT system achieves 6.7-micron isotropic resolution.
• A full 3D dataset can be acquired in just 10 minutes.
• The system is designed for ease of construction and operation.

Conclusions:

• This custom OPT system offers an accessible and high-performance solution for 3D biological imaging.
• The provided guide empowers researchers with minimal engineering expertise to implement OPT.
• Increased adoption of OPT will advance biological research, particularly in phenotyping.