View techniques used to create previous winners.
Optical projection tomography
Optical projection tomography (OPT) is a relatively new imaging technique, developed in 2002 with the aim of accurately imaging the development of 3D structures. It works by projecting light through a whole specimen. The specimen is prepared in an organic clearing agent to assist light penetration and is mounted on a revolving stage. The light passes through the sample and is captured by a detector, producing a 'quantative shadow'. The denser the tissue, the less light that penetrates and so the shadow created is darker. A series of these 'shadow projections' are captured at different angles as the sample revolves, so that information is generated through 360 degrees. All the images are reconstructed using computer software to create an accurate 3D image of the whole sample. This technique is useful for tracking gene expression using visible light as well as fluorescence methods and has the added benefit that larger samples can be imaged than is normally possible on standard confocal microscopes.