The use of image processing equipment for video enhancement and analysis is necessary to enhance and extend the research of four spearte goups of investigators at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute: It will be used by Dr. Nuttall's group to enhance ongoing NIH funded research into the control of cochlear vasculature. Dr. Nuttall is developing vital microscopy techniques to examine and quantitatively measure the cochlear blood flow response to metabolic demands and other manipulations. The Image I system by IVS will not only enhance the ability to resolve vessel size but will open up new avenues of in vivo microscopy in that will be used in future metabolic studies at the cellular level in the cochlea. It will be use by Dr. Schact's group to enhance ongoing NIH funded research into the role of phosphoinositides in cochlear function, specifically on motile events in isolated outer hair cells. The image enhancement capabilities of the IVS Image I system will be necessary to resolve small changes in hair cell length, while the motion detection and pixel analysis capbilities of the sytem will help to quantitate these changes. It will also evaluate fluorescent markers in the cells. It will be used by Dr. Altschuler's group to investigate the localization of transmitters and the structural basis of outer cell function. Dr. Altschuler has used the IVS Image I in past studies and will need the increased resolution affaorded by this system to examine the distribution of immunoreactive labels in the cochlea. This system can also be used to resolve cochlear hair cell structures related to motility at the electron microscope level, using the GATAN model 622 system to interface to a JEOL 1200 electron microscope and at the LM level (on both regular and isolated hair cells) interfacing to a Leitz photomicroscope through a DAGE/MTI video camera. It will be used by Dr. Carey's group in NIH funded examinations of chromosomal abnormalities in human squamous cell carcinomas The IVS Imaeg I will increase the ability to resolved chromosomes, to identify specific chromosomal abnormalities that commonly occur in this type of cancer and to identify chromosomal markers that characterize individual tumor cell lines. In additiaonlit will enable real-time comparison of normal and malignant cell spreading, migration, and mitosis, as well as analysis with monoclonal markes.
