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IVIM Technology, Inc. has released “The New All-in-One IVM Series,” the first all-purpose intravital microscopy in the world.

Pilhan Kim (standing) examining images from the IVM-MS2, IVIM Tech's newest intravital microscope.© IVIM TechnologyIntravital microscopy allows for real time, three-dimensional video imaging of live tissue and live animals at the cellular level. It relies on laser excitation of a fluorescent molecule and detection of the resultant fluorescent signal."A major advantage of intravital microscopy is that we can follow up various cellular processes at different time points in a single animal," explains Pilhan Kim, an associate professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), who is also CEO of IVIM Technology, Inc., a start-up company founded by his team at KAIST. An intravital image of liver fibrosis (green) and lipid droplets (red) captured using a two-photon mode of the IVM-CM, IVIM Tech’s confocal / two-photon dual mode microscope.© IVIM TechnologyKim and colleagues took advantage of this capability in their investigation of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a common disease which can progress to inflammation, fibrosis, and liver failure. The team used a mouse model to observe how lipid droplets accumulated in liver cells, a characteristic feature of the disease."Previously, it was difficult to see the lipid droplets in the liver in a live animal," says Kim, but by using a custom-built confocal and two-photon intravital microscope with a Ti-sapphire femtosecond-pulse laser, and associated water-cooling system, Kim and colleagues were able to observe droplet size and location, and changes in an individual liver cell's behaviour and shape in a live animal.While intravital microscopy can provide valuable new insights into disease processes and drug development, Kim notes that it has been challenging for life scientists to use, as it is technically difficult and expensive.He is determined to change that, and make intravital microscopy a more user-friendly, smooth experience for biomedical researchers. This motivation led to the development of IVIM Technology’s IVM-MS2, a compact all-in-one intravital two-photon microscope.Intravital Images of various tissues captured using the IVM-MS2.© IVIM TechnologyInstead of a large laser system, the IVM-MS2 uses a compact air-cooled fibre femtosecond-pulse laser module fixed at the most widely used wavelength of 920 nm. “By fixing the wavelength we can reduce the size of the laser and the price,” explains Kim.As well as the laser, the IVM-MS2 now integrates body temperature monitoring and regulation, anesthetization, tissue motion stabilization and implantable imaging windows customized for various organs. “This avoids users having to improvise these critical functions needed for intravital imaging experiments – it’s all inbuilt with high usability,” says Kim. “It can serve as a workhorse to elucidate the unknown pathophysiology of various human diseases, and hopefully help in the discovery of new cures,” he concludes. 

Intravital Images from Two-Photon IVM-MS2• Optimized for in-vivo imaging of 3D cellular-level dynamics in various target tissues• Ultra-high speed in-vivo imaging up to100 fps @ 512 x 512 pixels• 4-color simultaneous two-photon imaging, capable of simultaneous detection of fluorescence & label-free non-linear multi-harmonic generation (SHG) imaging “Small size of the Axon920-TPC enabled us to make the world smallest Two-Photon Microscopy, IVM-MS systems by fully integrating the fs-laser in a single box. It greatly helps customer to fit the system in their limited lab spaces.” — Dr. Pilhan Kim, CEO(IVIM Technology Inc. Daejeon, South Korea)The ChallengeThe clinical use of multiphoton imaging on live cells could enable real-time in vivo biopsies, to develop faster identification and treatment of diseases. One of the key steps in the process is to develop compact, low cost and easy to use system. To this end, IVIM Technology (Daejeon, South Korea) committed to develop the world’s most compact, cost-effective, fs-laser module integrated two-photon microscope system for intravital imaging of live cells. Specifically, the goal was to deliver a system that is suitable for non-expert users with superb imaging quality with minimal invasion on living organ of the animal. A key challenge for IVIM was getting a laser with all the features and performance they required, having compact size affordable price.The SolutionThe newly launched IVIM-MS2 is an All-in-One Intravital Two-Photon Microscopy System, incorporating a Coherent Axon 920-TPC laser. Dr. Pilhan Kim, CEO of IVIM Technology and Professor of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), explained, “This microscope can explore complex dynamic behaviors of numerous cells inside a living body. It serves as next-generation core technology to elucidate unknown pathophysiology of various human diseases and hopefully discover new cures for them.” He noted that prior to its development, users must be skillful to get the needed images on various organs with conventional two-photon systems, which were very challenged.Dr. Kim stated that IVIM selected Axon 920-TPC for several reasons. Its AOM integrated compact size, rugged build with air cooling, and maintenance-free operation made it the ideal laser for their IVIM-MS2. He added, “The air-cooled, AOM integrated design allowing IVIM to use a much simpler, less costly optical design with much higher reliability for high up-time operation” The total power control, or TPC, allowing fast power change; the adjustable pre-compensation can tune the pulse width at sample. The laser enabled them to develop the all-in-one revolutionary two-photon, high resolution in-vivo 3D fast imaging systems.The ResultUsing the new all-in-one intravital microscopy systems, researchers can now observe highly dynamic molecular and cellular processes such as gene expression, protein activity, cell trafficking, cell-to-cell interactions in unprecedentedly high resolution, inside a live body.© 2021 Coherent, Inc. | www.coherent.com | 06.2021 

DAEJEON, South Korea - May 3, 2021 - ( Newswire.com ) IVIM Technology, Inc. has released the most compact all-in-one intravital two-photon microscope, “IVM-MS2”. IVIM Technology, Inc. is the world’s first start-up that commercializes all-in-one integrated intravital microscopy equipment. Our equipment uses innovative intravital microscopy (IVM) technology originally developed by KAIST. IVM-MS2 is the all-in-one IntraVital Two-Photon Microscopy System, optimized for in vivo imaging experiments and equipped with a new compact high-efficiency fs-pulse laser module. Especially, the IVM-MS2 is an ideal choice for customers with limited resources and budgets as it integrates a compact high-stability maintenance-free fs-pulse laser into a single box. The two-photon intravital microscope is in high demand for global leading advanced bioresearch institutes. And the newly released “IVM-MS2” will be installed at Harvard Medical School in the U.S.A. and Max Planck Institute in Germany. “IVM-MS2” is designed to integrate all the functions necessary to image various processes in living animals with high cellular and molecular resolutions, allowing anyone not only equipment experts, to achieve the desired results without any difficulties. It is also equipped with imaging algorithms to automatically compensate movements such as heartbeats and lung movement caused by respiration based on its unique ultra-high speed in-vivo imaging (max. 100fps with 512x512 pixels), and a live animal maintenance system to maintain the physiological environment of tissues during image acquisition. “IVM-MS2” is the first in the world to have an ultra-small 920nm ultra-fast fs-pulse laser module inside. The 920 nm wavelength is the most used wavelength in two-photon microscopy. It allows two photon-excitation of various fluorescent simultaneously and efficiently. Using “IVM-MS2″ with high performance, high space-saving and a reasonable price, researchers can observe various biological processes inside living animals without any limitation of fluorescence and get highly reliable results. In addition to ‘IVM-MS2, IVIM Technology, Inc. has a variety of products lines including all-in-one confocal microscope ‘IVM-C’, multi-photon microscope ‘IVM-M’ and confocal/multi-photon microscope ‘IVM-CM’. It also provides customized experimental services using customers’ own molecules or drug candidates by professional researchers in IVIM corporate research institute (all the researchers in IVIM lab are Ph. D from KAIST and have more than over 10 years of experience). Recently, the biopharmaceutical industry has focused on developing new concepts of biopharmaceuticals, such as immunotherapy, cell therapy, gene therapy, and antibody therapy, rather than simply developing synthetic drugs. The human body works through complex interactions. However, in the preclinical stages of new drug development, studies have been conducted mainly in ways that do not involve interactions, such as in vitro and ex-vivo experiments. IVIM Technology’s ultra-fast laser scanning three-dimensional intravital microscopy allows for direct observation of the cell movement inside living tissues, and individual cells moving inside various organs of the body that cannot be seen with MRI or CT. It also allows for imaging of various cells, molecules like proteins and surrounding microenvironments simultaneously with higher resolution and precision than that allowed by existing technologies. It allows getting detailed information about the process of various diseases occurring in the body in cellular level. IVIM Technology’s intravital microscopy systems can be used for In Vivo 4D cell imaging, tracking & monitoring, In Vivo imaging of drug efficacy, and In Vivo imaging of drug delivery. And you can get high-resolution intravital imaging of almost all tissues and organs, so it is perfect methods for accurate identification of drug mechanisms, especially for various new drug studies such as exosomes, bispecific antibodies, and microbiomes. http://ivimtech.com/, information@ivimtech.comPress Release Service by Newswire.comOriginal Source: IVM-MS2, ‘The Most Compact All-in-One IntraVital Two-Photon Microscopy System in the World’