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Inside the Lab: Microscopy Innovation through Custom Building

“Science is more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking; a way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility.” – Carl Sagan

For the pursuit of scientific goals, the tools we use are as important as the questions we ask. Researchers at Eindhoven Univeristy of Technology often rely on advanced tools to push the boundaries of knowledge – tools that frequently don’t exist in the commercial market for scientific instrumentation. To meet their research needs, they are compelled to custom-build innovative setups, tailoring each instrument to their specific scientific objectives.

This article dives into the stories behind two custom built imaging setups, by dr. Mrigank Singh Verma and ing. Koen Valk, at the Institute of Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS), exploring how and why they chose to build from scratch, the challenges they encountered, and the vision they have for their custom builts. With this article, we aim to highlight the unique drive and creativity behind custom-built instruments in scientific research. By showcasing these innovative projects, we hope to inspire our audience with the stories of researchers who are pushing the boundaries of microscopy and scientific inquiry through custom solutions. Their dedication not only advances their own work but also serves as a source of inspiration for TU/e research community.

Fueled by Collaboration: Born from Necessity

The birth of both the setups designed by Verma and Valk was driven by the collaborative demands of their respective research projects.

Verma is a postdoctoral researcher working in the lab of Molecular Plasmonics led by dr. Peter Zijlstra, and for this project he is working for part of a NWO Gravitation progam led by Zijlstra and dr. Danqing Liu. He is building a Single Plane Illumination Microscope (SPIM) which is a fluorescence microscope involving the excitation through a thin lightsheet. The difference between his SPIM and all other SPIMs is that his microscope is equipped with a polarization camera which makes it applicable to perform polarization-resolved microscopy that gives extra information about the molecular orientation in the sample, which is exactly what is crucial for dr. Liu to answer her research questions in her lab of Human Interactive Materials. There’s currently no commercially available light sheet microscope desgined to perform polarziation resolved microscopy on a polymeric sample such as from dr. Liu’s lab.

Valk is currently a PhD candidate researcher also in the group of Molecular Plasmonics. In his collaboration with Photonic Integration Group under the PhotonDelta Growthfund, he designed a microscope to readout the surfaces of photonic chips for biosensing purposes, consisting of two optical fibers for optical interogation of the chips. The microscope itself serves of purpose of asissting the precise alignment of the fibers. Valk started building the setup with the aim to avoid being reliant on another shared equipment of a similar purpose, because that equipment is always fully booked. However, after building the setup, Valk could make a setup to his own that also realized more functionalities, one of which being the ability to be integrated with a chip for biosensing purposes.

Verma and the custom built SPIM microscope. Photo: Yuyang Wang
Photonic chip-inspecting microscope built by Valk. Photo: Yuyang Wang

More Than Cost-Effectiveness : The Personal Drive Behind Custom Builds

When asked about the drive behind the custom builds, both Verma and Valk agreed that, although a valid point, being cost-effective was not the main reason they went for custom building projects. Both developers are satisfied with the freedome they enjoy having a setup fully tailored to their research needs, which is not possible to have at the same level of cost with a commercial solution. For both developers, a practical mentality is one of the main drives in their projects, as there is hardly any solution out there if they don’t start builiding it on their own. However, one biggest drive for both converges to personal motivations. Leading a custom build project is a great learning opportunity and is likely to positively influence their future career, according to Verma and Valk.

Gratitude and Support: Recognition from PIs and Colleagues

Custom builds that originate from research groups are, of course, supported by Principal Investigators (PIs). Both Verma and Valk appreciate the support from their scientific leaders. Although perhaps the only two among their other colleagues working on custom build projects, both Verma and Valk appreciate the support and encouragement from peers as well. One important reason for this appreciation is the successful leveraging of knowledge within the collaborative context. By creating custom instruments, they can help their colleagues achieve scientific goals.

Valk working on the microscope. Photo: Yuyang Wang

Institute Support: The Role of Facility in Custom Projects

The advanced microscopy facility at ICMS has the mission to folster such creative and innovative solutions. At ICMS, it is important for researchers including PI’s to adapt to the fact no one’s knowledge is comprehensive in today’s fast evolving technological landscape. Both Verma and Valk ackowledge the role ICMS is playing promoting the knowledge flow between reseach fields.

When asked to rate their setup from a scale of 1 – 10, Verma gave a humble 5 and Valk a solid 7.5. To their positivity and dedication to continuously develop their solution, they plan to promote their projects through seminars and presentations, and also importantly follow-up projects in which new students and reseachers continue or improve their creations. Interested researchers are always welcome to contact us via superresolution@tue.nl for opportunities.

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