Award details

Hearing at speed: a fast high-resolution imaging platform at the UCL Ear Institute

Reference	BB/R000549/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Jonathan Gale
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Professor Joerg Albert, Professor Jonathan Ashmore, Dr Jennifer Bizley, Dr Nicolas Daudet, Professor Andrew Forge, Professor Daniel Jagger, Professor Jennifer Linden
Institution	University College London
Department	Ear Institute
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	332,752
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/08/2017
End date	31/07/2018
Duration	12 months

Abstract

The principle objective of this application is to provide a new fast super-resolution facility at the UCL Ear Institute and also to replace the outdated but heavily-used core confocal microscope at this Internationally recognised off-campus research centre. We are requesting funds to purchase a highly flexible laser scanning confocal system, a Zeiss 880 Fast Airyscan, equipped with spectral detection and unmixing, highly sensitive gallium arsenide (GaAsP) detectors and a 32-element Airyscan detector along with a range of excitation lasers from 405 through to 633nm. This new core Institute facility instrument will provide us with: (i) improved sensitivity and reduced photobleaching, with faster image capture for all users allowing acquisition of larger data sets; (ii) near super-resolution imaging to 140nm; (iii) improved high speed live-imaging capabilities with reduced phototoxicity and excellent optical sectioning. The near super resolution capability will be a new addition to the Institute's imaging expertise. In addition, it will include the Fast Airyscan mode that allows for imaging of a 480x480 pixel array at up to 27 frames per second, using longer pixel integration (or dwell time) to provide enhanced capabilities for measuring dynamic responses such as intracellular Ca2+ dynamics. The enhanced sensitivity of the new detectors and the 880 Airyscan system will allow much improved and more comprehensive data acquisition from less tissue; thus the reduced tissue usage is in line with 3R principles. The new confocal system will enhance our current imaging capabilities whilst providing the consistency of the work environment for the research groups.

Summary

The UCL Ear Institute is an international centre of excellence for research in the auditory and vestibular field. Since its inception in 2005 the Institute's Imaging Facility has underpinned the research of the Institute's staff as well as of multiple collaborators from UCL and from other Institutions. Research groups at the Ear Institute are studying the cell biology and physiology of cells in the inner ear and the auditory brain. The research undertaken is heavily dependent on the availability of high quality imaging from cells and tissues, with the ability to utilise the confocal principle being critical to resolve the small and complex structures of the audiovestibular system. Understanding the dynamic changes that occur during normal physiological function and during trauma is critical for the Institute to work towards its defining goal of "Understanding Hearing and Fighting Deafness". This application aims to replace the (now unsupported) core confocal imaging system. In the process it is proposed to add the ability to carry out near super-resolution experiments in the current Facility provision. In addition to the essential role of underpinning the local research activities, the imaging systems and researchers at the Ear Institute have also been central to the development of imaging approaches and techniques through collaborations both within UCL and external to UCL. The new fast super resolution imaging system will be accessible to a variety of different researchers through the wider UCL community and its existing networks and also to UK research teams in the auditory and vestibular research fields through collaborative activity. The requested imaging platform will facilitate the continued excellence and provide enhanced capabilities for numerous ongoing research projects at the UCL Ear Institute and in the wider community. The UCL Ear Institute is a stand-alone Division position on the Gray's Inn Road dislocated from the main UCL Bloomsbury Campus. Since its inception in 2005 it has housed an imaging facility that incorporates an inverted Zeiss 510 microscope, a PerkinElmer Ultraview (now Volocity) spinning disk confocal and a Upright Zeiss 510NLO multi-photon confocal system. The oldest of these systems (now 14 years old) is the Inverted LSM 510. This microscope is now two generations behind current technology. This grant will support the replacement of the inverted confocal system with a faster, more sensitive and more flexible system that will also provide new super-resolution capabilities to the Ear Institute.

Impact Summary

This state-of-the-art fast, sensitive super-resolution confocal microscope will underpin a wide range of research activities within the UCL Ear Institute. Our Institute brings together some of the most influential academics and clinicians in the world with a passion to understand hearing and fight deafness. Recent bibliometric analysis of the most cited articles in England carried out by RAND, confirms that we are producing the most important research in the fields of "deafness and hearing problems" and "audiology & speech-language pathology". In the UK, some 70% of people over 70 suffer from age-related hearing loss. A particular theme of the research at the Ear Institute is a study the audiovestibular system through the life-course, a highlighted BBSRC area, and a number of research groups will use the imaging platform to deliver and even enhance their research projects. In the short to medium term the primary beneficiaries of the research that will be underpinned by this essential platform technology will be the scientists that will use the outputs to design new and better experiments to develop therapeutic strategies to alleviate the effects of age-related hearing loss. In the longer term it will be the all of those who suffer from hearing loss and balance defects, since many aspects of the work in the Institute (funded by the BBSRC, MRC, Action on Hearing Loss and the Wellcome Trust among others), aims to prevent hearing loss or alleviate its effects.

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Advanced Life Sciences Research Technology Initiative (ALERT) [2013-2014]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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