Nuclear morphometrics and chromatin condensation patterns as disease biomarkers using a mobile microscope

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cell Biology
• Optical Microscopy

Background:

• Accurate cancer diagnosis relies on analyzing nuclear morphology and chromatin condensation.
• Current methods require high-resolution imaging with expensive microscopy, limiting accessibility in resource-limited settings.
• There is a need for portable, cost-effective microscopy solutions for clinical use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a portable fluorescent mobile microscope for high-resolution imaging of cell nuclei and chromatin.
• To extract nuclear morphometric and chromatin texture features for cancer cell discrimination.
• To evaluate the microscope's sensitivity in detecting cellular changes.

Main Methods:

• Development of a portable fluorescent mobile microscope.
• Acquisition of high-resolution images of cell nuclei and chromatin.
• Extraction and analysis of nuclear morphometric and chromatin texture features.
• Comparison with wide-field fluorescence microscopy for diagnostic accuracy.

Main Results:

• The portable microscope achieved diagnostic accuracy comparable to wide-field fluorescence microscopy in discriminating normal from cancer cells.
• The system successfully detected subtle changes in nuclear and chromatin features under various cellular stresses.
• The developed platform demonstrated high sensitivity to physical and chemical cellular perturbations.

Conclusions:

• A versatile portable fluorescent mobile microscope was developed.
• Nuclear morphometrics and chromatin condensation serve as effective physical biomarkers for point-of-care diagnostics.
• This technology offers a promising solution for accessible cancer diagnosis in diverse clinical settings.