The Research Histology and Tissue Imaging Core (RHTIC) Facility
The Department of Pathology and the UIC Research Resources Center jointly manage a core laboratory that provides histology and imaging services to investigators both within and beyond campus. Emphasizing close cooperation between slide preparation and digital imaging allows the facility to address a wide range of challenges involving single or multiplex stains. Through an academic partnership with Leica Biosystems, the RHTIC uses state-of-the-art slide preparation and whole-slide scan brightfield imaging. The Definiens Tissue Studio and Developer XD software suites provide both basic and advanced image processing and quantification capabilities. A Vectra® microscopy system (PerkinElmer) combines machine learning with multispectral color unmixing, providing the capability of analyzing multiple molecular targets in a single tissue sample. Shown here is a dual immunofluorescence (plus DAPI) stain imaged on the Vectra and ready for quantification of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in eosphageal epithelium. Drs. Gann and Balla serve as Academic Director and Chief Pathology Consultant, respectively, for the RHTIC. Dr. Vicky Macias also serves as a Pathology Consultant and manager of laser capture microdissection services. You can access the RHTIC website here.