Collaboration

At the forefront of volume Electron Microscopy (vEM), we utilize our cutting-edge proprietary enhanced Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy (eFIB-SEM) technology and its unparalleled pipeline to generate large-volume three-dimensional electron microscopy data with nanometer isotropic resolution. Such data open new avenues for discovering breakthroughs and unveiling critical insights into structure-function relationships in biology.

The FIB-SEM Collaboration Core (F-SCC) is a crucial research core within Yale School of Medicine. With a significant investment in technology development, equipment resources, and imaging duration to produce large-volume high-resolution datasets, all specimens undergoing the enhanced FIB-SEM pipeline will be exclusively managed by dedicated scientists of F-SCC.

Pipeline cost

We maintain an unwavering commitment to ensure the production of the highest quality data with optimal resource utilization. The enhanced FIB-SEM pipeline consists of EM sample preparation, enhanced FIB-SEM sample preparation, enhanced FIB-SEM image acquisition, image registration & alignment, and image analysis.

	EM Sample Preparation with TEM Evaluation	Enhanced FIB-SEM Sample Preparation	Enhanced FIB-SEM Image Acquisition	Image Registration & Alignment	Image Analysis	X-ray Micro-CT Image Acquisition
Description	Transform the fresh specimen to a heavy metal stained resin embedded sample, followed by ultrastructure evaluation by TEM imaging without post-staining.	Perform block face sample preparation to minimize the sample to its smallest volume containing the complete and largest region of interest (ROI). This process includes iterative rounds of X-ray micro-CT image acquisitions that guide sample mounting, ROI targeting, and successive rounds of ultramicrotome trimming to achieve its final shape.	Perform 3D high-resolution large- volume image acquisition using the proprietary eFIB-SEM that is capable of months to years of continuous imaging without defects in the final image stack.	Transform raw images to an aligned 3D image stack using a customized Scale Invariant Feature Transformation (SIFT) pipeline	Perform cellular organelle segmentation or neuronal circuit reconstruction to probe structure and function relationships	Perform non-destructive 3D imaging using X-ray micro-CT, providing 3D visualization of the ultrastructure of a heavy metal-stained sample down to 0.5 µm pixel resolution.
Unit	Per batch	Per sample	Per day	Per dataset	TBA (To be announced)	Per hour
Internal	$1800	$2700	$800	$500	TBA	$50
Non-profit	$2800	$3800	$1000	$800	TBA	$100
Profit	$3000	$4500	$1500	$900	TBA	$110

Project submission

We are dedicated to facilitating your discoveries. Reach out to discuss your project, evaluate our pipeline's compatibility, and estimate the collaboration budget. Upon agreement, please submit the collaboration request online using this link.

Data publication

With regards to publishing any data and results emerging from collaboration with the F-SCC, co-authorship will be subject to discussion. The data and results are expected to be published in accordance with the scholarly custom of academic research.