Antwerp Centre for Advanced Microscopy
High impact science through systematic and quantitative imaging
Services
ACAM offers a broad range of services, delivered by our experienced team.
We are part of the Flemish BioImaging node, which is embedded within the EuroBioImaging network.
> Academic or industrial projects
> Co-development of technologies
> Project work orders
> Strategic partnerships
> Consultancy and project writing
> Proof of concept studies
> Assay development
> Image informatics support
> Cell phenotypic screening
> In flow organoid screening
> Whole brain imaging
Collaborations
We actively collaborate with both academic and industrial partners. For organizations with specific technical needs, we offer structured collaborations through end-to-end services and project work orders. Building on our expertise and using our advanced infrastructure, we invest in co-developing new technologies tailored to specific research questions. In addition to individual projects, we also welcome strategic partnerships that foster long-term collaboration, knowledge exchange, and shared technological growth.
Get in contact with ACAM:
>>> Valorisation: Dr. Elizabete Ruppeka-Rupeika
>>> Fundamental research: Dr. Isabel Pintelon
Additional support
ACAM offers consultancy and project writing services to help structure proposals and refine research questions and experimental setups. To strengthen proposals, we conduct proof of concept studies, to assess feasibility and generate preliminary data.
Our expertise also extends to assay development, where we design, optimize, and validate imaging pipelines tailored to specific research questions. For projects involving advanced image analysis, we offer specialized image informatics support to ensure a robust analysis that generates reproducible data.
End-to-end
ACAM has optimized and validated multiple applications that are now offered as end-to-end services:
High-throughput cell-based screening ACAM has implemented an imaging assay based on cell painting and convolutional neural networks to recognize cell types in dense and mixed cultures with high fidelity. Cell painting is based on labelling cells with simple organic dyes and has proven to be a powerful and generic method for predicting the mode-of-action of pharmacological or genetic perturbations. Input: Fixed cells in 96 or 384 well plates. Output: Single hand-crafted readouts for every perturbation as well as deep learning based clustering of perturbations with similar mode of action.
In flow organoid screening The cerebral organoid is a model system with high potential for both fundamental and for applied neuroscience research. ACAM has developed a pipeline that enables unbiased cellular phenotyping of intact cerebral organoids by using a combination of multiplex fluorescent labelling, light-sheet microscopy, and deep learning. Our in flow imaging system enables efficient and robust recordings with theoretically unlimited throughput. Input: Spheroids/Organoids Output: Cellular phenotypic comparison between samples
Whole brain imaging The use of sectioned organ tissue to obtain spatial information in 3D is labour-intensive and time-consuming. In addition, the destructive nature of sectioning leads to loss of material and complicates downstream analytical procedures. With our expertise in staining, clearing and light sheet microscopy, ACAM is able to perform in toto brain imaging with cellular resolution. Input: Perfusion fixed brains. Output: Region based quantification of hallmark proteins.