A Visual Link to Human & Veterinary Medicine
CVM historical archive photo
by Kelly Tucker, Christina B. Sumners, and Dr. Megan Palsa Images are an important component of the human experience. What we see—or can’t see—can shape how we interpret and explain the world around us. For human and veterinary medicine, images and the information they provide can be the difference between a medical mystery and a diagnosis with a treatment plan. At the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM), modern medical imaging technology and techniques have transformed how researchers and doctors view and interpret cells and tissues. The CVM has assembled an unparalleled collection of advanced imaging technologies that are being used in basic, clinical, and translational research as well as diagnostic imaging and therapeutic intervention. The high resolution images generated from these technologies range from single molecules at the nanometer-size scale to whole organ functional imaging on the meter scale. These images, in turn, have advanced research and treatment of a number of diseases and conditions, especially cancer.
Imaging History
Microscopy started with two pieces of glass in a Dutch spectacle-maker’s workshop in the 1590s. Hans Jansen and his son, Zacharias, experimented with lenses in a tube and found their invention created a magnified image of any object viewed through it. The invention, a compound microscope, was used by Robert Hooke to view and draw various life specimens for his book, “Micrographia,” published in 1665. Inspired by Hooke’s drawings and observations, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, later known as the father of Microbiology, improved the microscope to pursue his own studies. His improvements allowed him to be the first person to see and 52 •
• Summer 2015
write about single-celled organisms, blood vessels, bacteria, and other microscopic biological entities. Innovation in microscopy technology stalled for two centuries. Then, in the 1850s, Carl Zeiss, an engineer who manufactured microscopes, began tweaking the lenses. He employed glass specialist Otto Schott to improve the lens quality and Ernst Abbe to refine the manufacturing process. The collaboration of the three men produced the modern compound microscope found in labs and classrooms around the world today. Other forms of viewing patients and their biological samples were developed later. X-rays were discovered in 1895, and contrast agents followed a decade later. By the 1950s, radiation technology had been sufficiently developed for the initial uses of nuclear medicine to begin. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques became available in the 1970s. Over time, these innovative technologies have revolutionized how physicians and researchers are able to study, diagnose, and treat conditions. In the modern era, all of these imaging modalities and more have found a place at the CVM and continue to improve medical science and research.
Image Analysis Laboratory
The Image Analysis Laboratory (IAL) began as an electron microscope (EM) facility in 1987. EM continues to be an important tool for research and diagnostics. This aspect of the laboratory is managed by Dr. Ross Payne, associate research scientist in veterinary pathobiology, who provides a wide range of EM techniques, data analysis, and training for CVM scientists. The first confocal microscope joined the ranks in 1990. “Around this time, there was a renaissance in light microscopy technology due to the integration of laser light sources,