Techniques for performing an acoustic rheology measurement of a sample are provided. A first set of acoustic pulses is provided by a focused ultrasound transducer to induce surface oscillations of the sample. A second set of acoustic pulses is provided by a detection transducer to interrogate the sample and detect the echo pulses reflected by the sample surface as a function of time. The detection ultrasound transducer system converts the echo signals to an electrical signal associated with the detected echo pulses, and a processor determines a dynamic displacement of the interface of the sample as a function of time. The processor also determines the spectrum, resonant surface oscillation frequency, and damping coefficient. Viscoelastic properties of the material are determined from these measurements, with applications for the characterization of the blood clotting process, the identification of a blood clot, gelation process, tumor, or fibrosis based on the viscoelastic properties.

A culture device is applicable to measurement of an electrical resistance of cells. The culture device includes a measurement chamber, a permeable layer, an upper working electrode, and a lower working electrode. The measurement chamber is longer in a first direction than in a second direction intersecting the first direction. The permeable layer partitions the measurement chamber into a first chamber on an upper side and a second chamber on a lower side. The permeable layer is permeable to liquid. The upper working electrode is disposed on the upper side with respect to the measurement chamber, and has working electrode portions longer in the first direction than in the second direction. The lower working electrode is disposed on the lower side with respect to the measurement chamber, and has working electrode portions longer in the first direction than in the second direction.

A cancer test device (1) is provided with: an application unit (40) for applying a staining agent (45), which can selectively stain a product of a cancer-relating gene in a living cell a chromatic color, onto a group of living cells; an imaging unit (10) for imaging the group of living cells having the staining agent (45) applied thereto; and a determination unit (52) for determining the level of malignancy of cancerization of the group of living cells on the basis of the state of the stained expression pattern of the cancer-relating gene in the group of living cells in an image obtained by the aforementioned imaging.

A toilet is disclosed. The toilet has a bowl adapted to receive excreta, a shelf for receiving feces in the bowl, and one or more sensor for detecting a property of the feces. The property may be related to a user's heath and wellness and may be presented to a person for their review and assessment.

Among the various aspects of the present disclosure is the provision of a hydrogel-based substrate comprising an aldehyde-containing component, such as N-ethanal acrylamide. The hydrogel component allows for functionalization of a hydrogel through conjugation of proteins (e.g., collagen) to the hydrogel in the absence of a post hoc crosslinking component.

Methods, systems, and computer program products of fusing Molecular Chemical Imaging (MCI) and Red Green Blue (RGB) images are disclosed herein. A sample is illuminated with illuminating photons which interact with the sample and are used to form MCI and RGB images. The MCI and RGB images are fused by way of mathematical operations to generate a RGB image with a detection overlay.

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.

The present disclosure provides methods of preparing a biological specimen for imaging analysis, comprising fixing and clearing the biological specimen and subsequently analyzing the cleared biological specimen using microscopy. Also included are methods of quantifying cells, for example, active populations of cells in response to a stimulant. The present disclosure also provides devices for practicing the described methods. A flow-assisted clearing device provides rapid clearing of hydrogel-embedded biological specimens without the need of specialized equipment such as electrophoresis or perfusion devices.

A cell evaluation method evaluates the quality of a cell population including a plurality of cells. The cell evaluation method comprises: an index calculation step of calculating an index, based on a captured image of the cell population, the index including at least any one of an average distance representing a packing degree of the cells, a spring constant representing a degree of consistency in distances between the cells, and a hexagonal order parameter representing a degree to which an arrangement of the cells resembles a regular hexagon; and an evaluation step of evaluating the cell population, based on the index calculated in the index calculation step.

The present disclosure relates to methods of collecting and testing bacteria containing samples from within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a subject. The methods may include disposing an ingestible device in the GI tract, collecting a bacteria-containing sample from the GI tract, selectively lysing eukaryotic cells in the sample by combining the sample with a dried reagent, exposing bacteria in the sample to resazurin in the ingestible device to produce resorufin, emitting light from the ingestible device, the emitted light being filtered through an optical filter to control for scatter so that the light interacts with the resorufin to produce fluorescence, and measuring a total fluorescence from the resorufin; or a rate of change of fluorescence from the resorufin as a function of time within the GI tract of the subject; and correlating the measured parameter to a number of viable bacterial cells in the sample.