The overall goal of this project will be to develop and apply a high-rate video imaging facility suitable for biological investigations at the microscopic and macroscopic levels. Initially, the facility will be used to study basic physiological processes in 3 areas of biomedical investigation: A) High-rate video will be coupled with state-of-the-art, intracellular fluorescence techniques to study 2 models of electrical rhythmicity: i) a single-cell model of neural rhythmicity -- chromaffin cells isolated from the adrenal medulla, and ii) a multi-cellular (yet still relatively simple) model of rhythmicity consisting of enteric nerves, interstitial cells and smooth muscle cells from the gastrointestinal tract. For the first time, we will be able to obtain quantitative data about the sequences of electrical and ionic events that regulate rhythmicity in these model cell-types. B) High-rate fluorescence imaging will also be used to study the effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields on excitable cells (the same cell-types studied in section A). By monitoring cellular excitability and the intracellular movement of ions using optical techniques, we will be able to gain insights about the exact mechanisms involved in the interactions between electromagnetic fields and mammalian neuromuscular tissues. C) Finally, high-rate video will be used to study the interface between air and the mucus layer that lines bronchial muscles. By simultaneously imaging from 2 viewpoints, we will be able to visualize and quantify instability formations (and subsequently mucus clearance) in all 3 spatial dimensions. The development of these imaging setups and techniques will result in a facility with capabilities found nowhere else. Each of the 3 research components will allow junior faculty access to such state-of-the-art facilities and techniques. In addition, the high-rate imaging facility will be one of the focal points in the development of an inter- disciplinary graduate program in biomedical engineering. This program is designed to bring together the expertise of faculty in the life and physical sciences in order to be nationally and inter-nationally competitive in focused areas of research.
