A one-stop-shop for microscopy and image analysis is now available to biomedical researchers with the launch of the Griffith Imaging and Image Analysis Facility.
Positioning Griffith as a leader in image data management, the new, amalgamated imaging facility – located at the Griffith Health Institute at the Gold Coast campus and the Eskitis Institute at Nathan campus – features a range of cutting-edge imaging instruments.
“The move represents a holistic approach to providing Griffith’s scientific community with the imaging and analysis capability that it now requires,” said Dr Adrian Meedeniya, senior research fellow and manager of the new facility.
“These exciting new facilities are driven by the microscopy revolution that has occurred over the past decade. Our imaging instruments range from pathology instruments (including high throughput slide scanners), to in vivo imagers which generate real time three dimensional data, and high resolution imagers capable of capturing quantitative data of molecular interactions.
“We have the ability to image extremely fine detail, at very high speeds, over extended time periods. This is particularly useful for tasks such as the accurate quantification of cell function.”
The hundreds of terabytes of varied imaging data generated from a modern imaging facility needs to be archived in order to minimise duplication, provide security and afford ready access for primary analysis.
“Effective data and metadata management will also afford protection of intellectual property and ‘secondary discovery’ through data mining and re-analysis,” Dr Meedeniya said.
“We are capitalising on the massive advances in computing power to develop analysis tools here at Griffith. Working with the university’s computer scientists has allowed us to develop novel, effective methods of data analysis.
“We are extending the capabilities of the software that we use in order to achieve new goals. This could include for example, automating image analysis with the use of neural network algorithms.”
Already, more than 100 Griffith researchers including students and academics from a wide range of scientific disciplines are taking advantage of the new technologies.
“We have had a tremendous response to the facility so far, with researchers coming in from disciplines as diverse as parasitology, cancer research and fundamental neuroscience,” Dr Meedeniya said.
Additionally Dr Meedeniya and his team are broadening the collaborations to a range of science disciplines in order to further improve the offering of the facility.
This will include chemists from Eskitis Institute and clinicians from Griffith Medical School.
- The Griffith Imaging and Image Analysis Facility can be found at http://www.griffith.edu.au/imaging-facility and details training schedules, new instrument under test, image competitions and online booking across campuses.
- To download photos of the facility and imagery, please go to http://www79.secure.griffith.edu.au/oer-images/micro1/