New technology organization on the Euro-BioImaging Web Portal

We are very pleased to announce a significant expansion of the Euro-BioImaging technology offer and a brand new, user-friendly technology presentation for the Euro-BioImaging website! Designed to make our technology portfolio more flexible and accessible, the new presentation is based on technology “categories”, making it easier for users to find the right imaging technology for their project. We are really proud of this large-scale, service-oriented reorganization, which was a long-term collaborative effort with our Nodes. Read the article to learn more about the new presentation of our portfolio. Then, take the time to navigate our new offer via the Technologies menu!

Imaging technology is one of the fastest developing areas in scientific instrumentation. Staying on the cutting-edge in this dynamic field means that we are constantly working to expand our open access technology portfolio across the whole range of biological and biomedical imaging technologies.

But when we added nine new technologies to our portfolio between 2020-2021 – navigating our technology offer became increasingly complicated. Combine that with more new technologies ready to be added, shifting terminologies and fast paced developments particularly in the electron microscopy field – and we decided - together with our Nodes - to completely restructure the presentation of the Euro-BioImaging technology portfolio.

Capitalizing on the input of Node experts

The technology reorganisation is based on the work of three expert groups – for light microscopy, electron microscopy, and biomedical imaging technologies. These expert groups represent the broad spectrum of expertise available at the 173 imaging facilities and centers making up the Euro-BioImaging Nodes. In total, 67 facility staff from our Nodes joined the different expert groups and through regular meetings and in-depth discussions developed a new categorization and presentation for all technologies on offer at the Euro-BioImaging Nodes.

The new technology framework allows the user a step-by-step selection of the different technologies in the application process. This “tiered” approach highlights the broad and cutting-edge service offer of the Euro-BioImaging Nodes across all imaging domains in a way that is appealing and easy to grasp – without being overwhelming for the non-expert user. After selecting a technology of interest, all Nodes that offer this technology are displayed, allowing a user to easily choose a technology for their imaging project along with a Node in just a few clicks.

A balanced presentation

At the same time, this technology reorganisation more equally represents the whole range of different technologies available at the Euro-BioImaging Nodes, giving equal weight to light and electron microscopy technologies on the biological imaging side and highlighting the expanding range of applications of biomedical imaging, from plant and ex-vivo imaging to animal and human imaging applications. In the new presentation, the image data services launched in September 2022 also receive their deserved visibility.

Alongside the new presentation, we also bring 27 new technologies into proof-of-concept study status, making them available for the first time in open access through Euro-BioImaging Nodes. We are very excited about this significant expansion of our technology offer and all the new possibilities it will unlock in the application of these technologies. We will introduce you to the new technologies in our portfolio in the coming weeks and months.

We really hope you will try out this new presentation, which brings the e Expertise of our Nodes to the forefront. Whether you need Light or Electron microscopy support, Multimodal, correlative microscopy expertise, or help with Animal, Plant or Human Imaging, Ex-vivo using biomedical imaging technologies or Image Data Analysis, the experts at Euro-BioImaging Nodes will be happy to support your project!

We appreciate your patience as we take this new system live and iron out any remaining bugs.

Here’s an example of the “tiered” menu for light microscopy technologies.

Acknowledgements:

The new technology framework represents the hard work of a large number of experts from the Euro-BioImaging Nodes who volunteered their time and expertise in this development, as well as the members of the Euro-BioImaging Web Portal (EWP) team who turned these ideas into reality, taking them from the drawing board to the worldwide web. Many thanks to Johanna Bischof and Alessandra Viale from the Bio-Hub and Med-Hub team respectively for coordinating these efforts. We thank everyone for their contributions.

Special thanks go to the chairs and task leads of the different Expert Groups:

Expert Group Light Microscopy:

• Gabriel G. Martins, Advanced Imaging Facility at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia

• Marko Lampe, Advanced Light Microscopy Facility at EMBL Heidelberg

Expert Group Electron Microscopy:

• Nalan Liv, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Utrecht University

• Seetharaman Parashuraman, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Naples

• Paolo Ronchi, Electron Microscopy Core Facility at EMBL Heidelberg

Expert Group Biomedical Imaging Technologies:

• Marcel Koek, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam

• Michal Mikl, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno