Development of an Integrated Imaging System for C. elegans Aging Research (II)

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a major model organism in aging research, it can be used to exploit the mechanism of aging as well as preliminary screen of anti-aging substances. Currently, the criteria for determining aging in C. elegans include life span, body movement, pharyngeal pumping and fluorescent aging pigment. However, these methods are labor intensive and easily subjective to man-made errors. Thus development of an automated imaging system which circumvents these drawbacks can facilitate C. elegans aging research in academic laboratories as well as pharmaceutical industries. Currently, there is no such instrument on the market, although recent literature has indicated a similar equipment. However, its structure complex and difficult to set up, and it is not designed to achieve high throughput settings. Since we have establish the phototype system in the first year of this project, therefore, the main objective in the second is to collaborate with industry to improve this automated imaging system to determine C. elegans aging: (1) optimize the imaging system to capture and track nematode movement trajectory and improve software to evaluate nematode survival and movement trajectory. (2) to enhance the image resolution and software features to accurately determine the pharyngeal pumping. (3)design and test microfluidic device to accommodate the imaging system for application in determining nematode survival. (4) to evaluate the capability of the system by anti-aging related products and drugs.

Project ID:PC10411-0026
External Project ID:MOST104-2622-B182-004-CC2