Sarcomere Length Analysis Using Laser Diffraction
Written on July 1st , 2015 by Elton Cheng
Overview
Laser diffraction is a tool used to quantify the sarcormere length in muscle fibers. Currently, this tool uses only a few measurements per sample to judge whole muscle properties, as it is not currently possible to measure sarcomere length throughout the whole muscle and observe how the sarcomere length may vary.
As part of research at the UCSD Muscle lab, the goal of this project was to develop methodologies that would allow an automated laser diffraction tool to analyize, process and produce accurate 3D models of muscles based off their sarcomere lengths.
During my undergrad at UCSD and my time working on this roject, I optimized the methodology of freezing, sectioning and preparing muscle samples for laser diffraction analysis. I also developed Matlab software that communicates with the motor and sensor hardware of the laser diffraction tool. This software allowed for automated collection and analysis of 1-D laser diffraction signals from muscle samples.
Image source and further information about the methodology and results can be found here.
