Systems and methods are provided for Quantitative Phase Microscopes (QPM) having laser systems including one or more of laser scissors and laser tweezers. In one embodiment, the system includes one or more structural elements, such as a stage and dichroic plate for operation of a QPM with laser scissors/tweezers. Another embodiment is directed to a method of operating a QPM system having laser scissors/tweezers. One or more solutions are provided for biodmedical applications of a QPM system including simulation and analysis of trauma on cellular structures and organelles. Processes are also provided for simulation and analysis of traumatic injury, including imaging and analysis of astrocytes.

An exemplary mobile impedance-based flow cytometer is developed for the diagnosis of sickle cell disease. The mobile cytometer may be controlled by a computer (e.g., smartphone) application. Calibration of the portable device may be performed using a component of known impedance value. With the developed portable flow cytometer, analysis may be performed on two sickle cell samples and a healthy cell sample. The acquired results may subsequently be analyzed to extract single-cell level impedance information as well as statistics of different cell conditions. Significant differences in cell impedance signals may be observed between sickle cells and normal cells, as well as between sickle cells under hypoxia and normoxia conditions.

Systems and methods taught herein enable simultaneous forward and side detection of light originating within a microfluidic channel disposed in a substrate. At least a portion of the microfluidic channel is located in the substrate relative to a first side surface of the substrate to enable simultaneous detection paths with respect to extinction (i.e., 0°) and side detection (i.e., 90°). The location of the microfluidic channel as taught herein enables a maximal half-angle for a ray of light passing from a center of the portion of the microfluidic channel through the first side surface to be in a range from 25 to 90 degrees in some embodiments. By placing at least the portion of the microfluidic channel proximate to the side surface of the substrate, a significantly greater proportion of light emitted or scattered from a particle within the microfluidic channel can be collected and imaged on a detector as compared to conventional particle processing chips.

Described herein are systems and methods for imaging mass spectrometry, including imaging mass cytometry. Aspects of the subject application include apparatus and methods for imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) that improve speed of sample acquisition, signal sensitivity, and/or signal stability. Systems and methods described herein may minimize the transfer time and/or may minimize the spread of plumes of sample material ablated from a sample to be transferred to the components of the imaging mass spectrometer or mass cytometer that ionize and analyze the sample material.

A particle sorting apparatus for separating particles according to the sizes of the particles, and includes a microchannel device, a computation unit that determines a condition for controlling the microchannel device using a trained model obtained through machine learning of control condition data and separation result data that have been obtained by separating particles while controlling the microchannel device, and a control unit that controls the microchannel device based on the condition.

An observation apparatus includes a light source unit, an irradiation optical system, an imaging optical system, a modulation unit, an imaging unit, an analysis unit, beam splitters and, and mirrors. The analysis unit obtains a real part of a function χ(t)=log [1+U.sub.obj(t)/U.sub.ref(t)], defined by time series data U.sub.obj(t) of a complex amplitude image of object light on an imaging plane and time series data U.sub.ref(t) of a complex amplitude image of reference light on the imaging plane, based on time series data I(t) of an intensity image of interference light on the imaging plane and time series data I.sub.ref(t) of an intensity image of the reference light on the imaging plane. Further, the analysis unit obtains an imaginary part of χ(t) from the real part of χ(t) using the Kramers-Kronig relations, and further obtains U.sub.obj(t).

Introduced here is an approach to improving the automatic identification of hematological diseases using computer-implemented models that are trained to rapidly distinguish between different collections of immunophenotypes that represent different disease types or disease states. Understanding the different patterns of immunophenotype collections contained in a given sample may permit a proposed diagnosis for a given hematological disease to be produced for the corresponding patient. For example, the proposed diagnoses may be output by a classification model based on the distribution of immunophenotypes across the given sample.

There is provided a technology that supports selection of a label to be used for analysis of target molecules. The present technology provides a label selection support system including an information acquisition unit that obtains, via a network, information associated with a plurality of target molecules to be analyzed, an information processor that obtains, using the information associated with a plurality of target molecules, in vivo expression information of the plurality of target molecules from a database storing in vivo expression information of target molecules and generates support information associated with assignment of a label to each of the plurality of target molecules on the basis of the expression information, and a transmitter that transmits the generated support information via the network.

A method for a system and method for morphometric detection of malignancy associated change (MAC) is disclosed including the acts of obtaining a sample; imaging cells to produce 3D cell images for each cell; measuring a plurality of different structural biosignatures for each cell from its 3D cell image to produce feature data; analyzing the feature data by first using cancer case status as ground truth to supervise development of a classifier to test the degree to which the features discriminate between cells from normal or cancer patients; using the analyzed feature data to develop classifiers including, a first classifier to discriminate normal squamous cells from normal and cancer patients, a second classifier to discriminate normal macrophages from normal and cancer patients, and a third classifier to discriminate normal bronchial columnar cells from normal and cancer patients.

Molecular beacons and developmental methods related thereto. Methods include obtaining a nucleotide sequence for an aptamer that binds to a target analyte. The aptamer comprises a binding domain nucleotide sequence, a first domain nucleotide sequence, and a displacement domain nucleotide sequence complementary to the first domain nucleotide sequence. A molecular beacon is developed based on the nucleotide sequence of the aptamer by preserving the binding domain nucleotide sequence and truncating or extending one or both of the first domain nucleotide sequence or the displacement domain nucleotide sequence. The resultant molecular beacon is developed such that the molecular beacon comprises a Gibbs free energy value that is greater than the Gibbs free energy value of the aptamer.