Preclinical optical imaging: Assessing the bio-distribution and expression of RNA vaccines and therapeutics
25th April 2023
Eddie Regan of Spectral Instruments Imaging with Southern Scientific Service Engineer Rory O’Connell at the installation of an Ami HT at Imperial College London.
The Ami HT has been installed at Imperial College London following Southern Scientific’s appointment as the new UK distributor for Spectral Instruments Imaging
Southern Scientific is pleased to announce itself as the new UK distributor for Spectral Instruments Imaging, a principal manufacturer of preclinical in vivo imaging systems. An Ami HT optical imaging system has recently been installed at Imperial College London’s Faculty of Medicine in the Department of Infectious Disease where it will be used to assess the impact of formulation of bio-distribution and expression of RNA vaccines and therapeutics.
Head of Mucosal Infection and Immunity Professor Robin Shattock chose the Ami HT over other optical imaging systems after being “impressed with its robustness and its abilities to detect a wide range of labels and sensitivity of detection.”
The Ami HT is also being used by the Stevens Group, a research team based at Imperial developing bioengineering solutions to solve key problems in regenerative medicine, biosensing, and therapeutics. Research associate and Marie Curie Fellow Dr David Peeler explained how he has been using the Ami HT.
“I’m using the instrument to track fluorescent protein vaccine release from polymeric microparticle delivery systems and to quantify the biodistribution of luciferase bioluminescence after transfection with novel self-amplifying RNA formulations.
“I would definitely say I prefer the Ami HT to the much larger Xenogen IVIS I used during my PhD. The software is intuitive, the nose cone setup is more flexible, and the resolution is better, but by far the best feature is how quickly the camera sensor cools down. No more waiting around for ages if you forget to pre-cool the instrument!
“I have the intention of starting my own lab in the future and based on my experience, I would be interested in procuring an Ami HT.”
Eddie familiarising Dr David Peeler of the Stevens Group with the Ami HT’s operation.
Optimized in vivo imaging for specialist researchers and core imaging facilities
The Ami HT allows optical imaging for studying small animal disease model progression, therapy response, and cell migration in vivo. It is ideal for specialist researchers thanks to its higher throughput with larger small animal sample sizes.
As well as the Ami HT, Spectral also manufacture the Lago optical imaging system, which is ideal for core imaging facilities thanks to its ten-mouse capacity that has seen it used in critical vaccine research, oncology, and translational studies.
Both the Ami HT and Lago have a number of innovative features that set Spectral’s imaging systems apart from others, including;
- Patented LED illumination delivering 100x more light on target, delivering stronger fluorescence signal with minimal background for superior quantitation.
- An air-cooled camera eliminating the need for cooling liquids and gases, guaranteeing no leaks, and reducing preparation time to just 5 minutes.
- Long-life LEDs that never fade or compromise imaging data and lasting longer than traditional tungsten bulbs.
- Greater sensitivity when comparing the minimum detectable radiance for bioluminescence with other leading imaging systems.
Find out more
You can learn more about the Ami HT by clicking the button below to speak to a product specialist.