Biomedicum Imaging Unit - In Vivo Imaging

BIU-IVI provides equipment, training and support for whole-body optical small animal imaging, intravital multiphoton microscopy and in vivo microCT analysis.

Located within the Laboratory Animal Centre, we maintain a Spectral Instruments Imaging Lago system for bioluminescent and fluorescent small animal imaging, a Zeiss multiphoton microscope optimized for intravital imaging of anesthetized rodents and Perkin Elmer Quantum GX2 microCT Imaging System, allowing acute as well as chronic in vivo imaging experiments.

BIU-IVI is a part of the Biomedicum Imaging Unit (BIU), a core facility that provides expertise and state-of-the-art equipment for modern multidimensional biomedical imaging applications. BIU is housed and supported by the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, but the services are available for all local, national, international and commercial customers. BIU is the founding member of Helsinki Functional Imaging Center (HFIC), recognized by the Ministry of Education and Culture as one of the most significant national level research infrastructures, and a stakeholder of the Euro-BioImaging (EuBI) pan-European research infrastructure project on the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap. BIU is part of the Finnish BioImaging consortium, National Imaging Infrastructure network of Biocenter Finland and the European Light Microscopy Initiative (ELMI).

Contact person: Intravital imaging specialist Marja Lohela, +358 2941 25268, marja.lohela@helsinki.fi; Principal Investigator Pipsa Saharinen, +358-2941 25521, pipsa.saharinen@helsinki.fi

Location: Biomedicum Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 8, Meilahti campus

Services:

User training
Instrument use for trained users with specialist support & maintenance
Assisted use of instruments or analysis software

Instruments:

Molecubes PET/CT for small animals
Perkin Elmer Quantum GX2 microCT Imaging System with isoflurane anesthesia for in vivo imaging of small animals
Spectral Instruments Imaging Lago small animal imaging system
Zeiss LSM7 MP OPO upright multiphoton microscope with isoflurane anesthesia & accessories for intravital imaging
2 image analysis workstations and 2 virtual workstations with image processing & analysis software including Spectral Instruments Imaging Aura, IVIS Living Image, Zeiss Zen, Imaris, Huygens and FIJI

Applications:

PET imaging of mice & rats
X-ray computer tomography in vivo imaging of mice, rats and small rabbits or ex vivo imaging of various samples
Bioluminescence and fluorescence whole animal imaging of mice & rats, for applications such as tumor growth and tracer/reporter distribution
Up to 4-channel intravital multiphoton microscopy of various organs in anesthetized mice and rats, for applications such as vascular function, tumor biology, immunology/inflammation and others
Image processing & analysis

User fees:

The research infrastructure is supported by University of Helsinki (HiLIFE and Faculty of Medicine) and Biocenter Finland. The academic prices (excl. VAT) are listed below; detailed user policy can be found here. Please ask for a quotation for your project.

Service	€/h	€/day
Perkin Elmer Quantum GX2 microCT Imaging System	50	N/A
Spectral Instruments Imaging Lago	20	N/A
Zeiss LSM 7 MP OPO	22	N/A
Imaging Workstation 1 & 2	3	N/A
Imaging Workstation 3, virtual workstations	5	N/A
Training fee (in addition to instrument cost)	25	N/A
Assisted use (in addition to instrument cost)	25	Please enquire

How to make the reservation:

Detailed instructions

On-line reservation system