Enter the groundbreaking innovation known as the crystal ribcage. Developed by researchers in Boston University's College of Engineering, Pulmonary Center, Center for Multiscale and Translational Mechanobiology, and Neurophtonics Center, the technology is poised to revolutionize not only our understanding of lung function but also holds immense potential for other organs and treatments.
With the crystal ribcage, we can for the first time image the mouse lung down to cellular levels while it retains itssuch as respiration, circulation of blood, and immune activity. We are now able to study many lung diseases at the earliest steps of disease initiation. In addition to the imaging capabilities that crystal ribcage provides, we are able to intervene in many ways in the respiration or circulation, such as adding drugs, or changing the lung physiological parameters , and study the subsequent changes in the lung structure-function. This controllability when combined with imaging capabilities make crystal ribcage a transformative technology to study many key lung diseases.
How might the crystal ribcage technology advance studies related to organ transplants and regenerative medicine?Providing a physiological environment for the transplant or engineered tissue where the sample can be imaged at the cellular resolution in real-time. As another example, there is an active line of research on lung tissue engineering. Despite the progress on engineering the lung, there is no reliable way to evaluate the function of the lung. Crystal ribcage allows this evaluation at theHow does the crystal ribcage contribute to a better understanding of lung diseases, development, and aging?