|
||||
|
Faculty in Charge Name: Kenneth Barbee Phone: 215.895.1335 Email: barbee@drexel.edu |
|
Lab Overview The Cellular and Tissue Biomechanics Laboratories occupy approximately 1,000 square feet of laboratory space on the fourteenth floor of the New College Building. This space houses a complete tissue culture facility and microscopy laboratory. The tissue culture facility includes a laminar flow hood, incubator, centrifuge, refrigerator, freezer, autoclave, and other small equipment items required for standard tissue culture activities. A separate room, dedicated to fluorescence microscopy applications, houses a variety of custom-designed experimental devices for mechanically stimulating cells in culture. An additional room houses an MTS 858 MiniBionix mechanical testing machine that is used for testing biological tissues and for actuating accustom-design cell stretching device used in cell injury studies. An Atomic Force Microscopy Laboratory was developed under the direction of PI, Dr. Barbee with funding from the Department of Education. The laboratory is built around the Digital Instruments Bioscope AFM mounted on a Nikon TE2000 inverted microscope. The Bioscope is capable of a wide variety of imaging modes including Contact AFM, Non-contact AFM, Lateral Force AFM, TappingMode AFM, Force-Volume Imaging, and Phase Imaging. The AFM lab is currently located in the basement of LeBow Engineering Building. Both labs are being relocated and consolidated in a new laboratory on the fourth floor of the LeBow Engineering Building. |
List of Available Major Equipment
| Equipment 1 | |
| Make and Model: | Digital Instruments Bioscope AFM |
| Brief Description of Capability: | The laboratory is built around the Digital Instruments Bioscope AFM mounted on a Nikon TE2000 inverted microscope. The Bioscope is capable of a wide variety of imaging modes including Contact AFM, Non-contact AFM, Lateral Force AFM, TappingMode AFM, Force-Volume Imaging, and Phase Imaging. |
| Location: | Lebow 4th Floor |
| Equipment 2 | |
| Make and Model: | Nikon TE200 epifluorescence microscope and dynamic image acquisition system |
| Brief Description of Capability: |
This microscopy system is capable of monitoring intracellular signaling processes in real time using fluorescent indicator dyes. A number of custom designed devices for stimulating cells mechanically have been integrated into this system. In addition, a system for simultaneously measuring changes in nitric oxide concentration due to cellular responses to mechanical or chemical stimulation is integrated into this system. |
| Location: | Lebow 4th Floor |
| Equipment 3 | |
| Make and Model: | MTS 858 MiniBionix |
| Brief Description of Capability: | The MTS 858 MiniBionix is a servo-hyraulic mechanical testing machine capable of the wide range of loading rates needd to completely characterize the viscoelastic properties of biological soft tissue. It is especially useful for testing the response of tissue to loading conditions that simulate mechanical trauma. |
| Location: | Lebow 4th Floor |
| Equipment 4 | |
| Make and Model: | BioForce Nano eNabler (on loan) |
| Brief Description of Capability: | The Nano eNabler places molecules at defined locations on a surface with nanometer spatial resolution. The Nano eNabler System™ prints proteins and other biological and non-biological materials onto silicon chips and other surfaces with ultra-micro spot sizes ranging from 20 microns to 1 micron, and in the nanometer range to 250 nm. Ultramicro- or nanoarrays of up to 10-50 domains or more can readily be produced and can subsequently be used as ultraminiature test sites for biomolecular interactions. An SPT™ (Surface Patterning Tool) is the molecular “ink cartridge” for the desktop molecular printer (Nano eNabler™). The SPTs can be used to print materials that include biological samples such as proteins, DNA, RNA, and whole viruses, as well as non-biological samples such as chemical solutions, colloids and particle suspensions. It can print on virtually any surface including Silicon, Glass, Gold and other Metals, Alkanethiol Monolayers, Silanes, PDMS, Hydrogels, Nitrocellulose, Plastics and Other Polymers. |
| Location: | Lebow 4th Floor |
 |
Phone 215.895.2215 | Fax 215.895.4983 | Email biomed@drexel.edu |
 |
| ©2005 School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems. All rights reserved. Terms of Use & Disclaimer | Last Modified: 11/25/2008 |