Integrative Graduate
Education and
Research Traineeship

Highlight

IGERT LifeChips Research Team Explore Flourescent Microbubbles

Comparison of microbubbles in brightfield versus fluorescent view

Projects:

IGERT: Life Chip

Institution:

University of California at Irvine

Primary Strategic Goal:

Research Infrastructure: Build the Nation's research capability through critical investments in advanced instrumentation, facilities, cyber infrastructure, and experimental tools.

Secondary Strategic Goal:

Discovery: Foster research that will advance the frontiers of knowledge, emphasizing areas of greatest opportunity and potential benefit and establishing the Nation as a global leader in fundamental transformational science and engineering.

Achievement/Results

Formerly funded UC Irvine IGERT LifeChips fellow Roger Shih and his co-advisors, Dr. Abe Lee and Dr. Ken Chang, are collaborating on a project to explore fluorescent microbubbles for combined ultrasound and endoscopic-fluorescence imaging. With advice from Dr. Chang’s lab, Roger has used microfluidics to produce bubbles with fluorescein bound to the membrane via biotin-avidin interaction, as well as bubbles containing a fluorescent oil layer. Roger is now working on ways to collect these bubbles in bulk while preserving their uniform size, so that in vivo studies may be performed. Roger has submitted a manuscript on high-rate microfluidic bubble production to Lab on a Chip. He currently revising the manuscript for resubmission.

Address Goals

Primary Goal: Research Infrastructure Through this project the nation’s medical community will have improved capability to clinically diagnose patients through combined ultrasound and endoscopic-fluorescence imaging. Secondary Goal: Discovery This project also has the ability to advance experimentation in clinical trials using a whole living organism. This is of great importance to our nation, as in vivo studies have the potential to offer conclusive insights about the nature of the disease