LifeCanvas Technologies

Founding and mission

• Founded by MIT Professor Kwanghun Chung, a pioneer in tissue clearing.
• Originates from innovations such as CLARITY, SWITCH, MAP, SHIELD, and eFLASH.
• Aims to revolutionize bioimaging and spatial biology by enabling unbiased, high-resolution 3D data from whole organs and other intact tissues.
• Supports biomedical research areas including neuroscience, oncology, infectious disease, and other fields that benefit from whole-tissue 3D imaging.

What LifeCanvas provides

LifeCanvas offers:

• Advanced tissue preservation and clearing methods designed for intact organs and complex samples.
• Light sheet microscopy systems optimized for high-speed, high-resolution 3D imaging.
• Reagents and workflows for uniform, deep tissue labeling.
• 3D data analysis tools and platforms, including AI-powered cell detection and atlas registration.
• CRO (contract research) services that take PFA-fixed samples and return processed, imaged, and analyzed 3D datasets.

Research systems and applications

LifeCanvas technologies have been used across many biological systems, including:

• Nervous system (e.g. brain, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion, sciatic nerve, peroneal nerve)
• Cardiovascular system (e.g. heart, blood vessels, cardiomyocytes)
• Endocrine system (e.g. pancreas, adipose tissue)
• Digestive system (e.g. intestine, liver)
• Sensory organs (e.g. eye, ear)
• Respiratory system
• Integumentary system (e.g. skin)
• Musculoskeletal system
• Reproductive system
• Organoids and other 3D culture systems
• Whole juvenile and small animals (e.g. whole mice)

These capabilities support applications such as drug discovery, molecular phenotyping, anatomical mapping, and other studies requiring whole-organ or whole-system 3D readouts.

• Supports studies of AAV-mediated gene delivery for applications such as gene therapy and other experimental interventions.
• Uses 3D histology, light sheet imaging, and analysis to generate unbiased biodistribution data.
• Helps quantify and visualize where virally delivered genes are expressed across whole organs or other intact samples.

Applicable samples and tissues

The AAV biodistribution mapping workflow can be applied to:

• Whole organs such as brain, heart, and lung.
• Unique or specialized samples such as biopsies, tumors, and organoids.
• Whole juvenile animals (e.g. whole mice), where compatible with the workflow.

Visualizing fluorescent protein expression

LifeCanvas technologies preserve and detect fluorescent proteins that report on gene expression, such as:

• GFP and related green fluorescent proteins.
• tdTomato and other red fluorescent proteins.
• YFP and related yellow fluorescent proteins.

Key components include:

• SHIELD for preserving biomolecules during downstream processing.
• Clear+ tissue clearing to maintain fluorescent signal quality.
• Light sheet imaging with instruments such as SmartSPIM or MegaSPIM for high-resolution 3D data.

Cell-type specificity and co-localization

The service can evaluate targeted gene delivery and cell-type specificity by co-localizing fluorescent protein expression with cell-type markers. This is enabled by:

• eFLASH technology for robust, uniform labeling throughout whole tissues.
• Markers such as NeuN, GFAP, and IBA-1 to distinguish neurons, astrocytes, microglia, and other cell types, where appropriate.

Analysis and data outputs

AAV biodistribution mapping services use the SmartAnalytics workstation and related tools to provide:

• Cell counts and fluorescence intensity mapping across tissues.
• Co-localization analyses between viral reporters and cell-type markers.
• Atlas-registered datasets (e.g. registration to the Allen Brain Atlas or Waxholm Space Atlas for whole-brain data, where applicable).
• Interactive visualization via a web-based platform with customizable heat maps, bar plots, and other graphical views.

Specific project design, analysis endpoints, and reporting formats should be discussed directly with LifeCanvas.

Whole organ mapping CRO services

LifeCanvas provides sample-to-result whole organ mapping services that use the company's full pipeline for 3D tissue processing, light sheet imaging, and data analysis.

Service overview

• Contract research services focused on whole organ and intact tissue mapping.
• The LifeCanvas team has extensive expertise in tissue processing, clearing, labeling, and light sheet imaging.
• Robust analysis methods are used to handle large, information-rich 3D datasets.
• Researchers send PFA-fixed samples, and LifeCanvas processes them through to analyzed outputs.

End-to-end workflow

Typical steps in the LifeCanvas pipeline include:

1. Tissue preservation – preserving biomolecular and structural integrity.
2. Tissue clearing – making intact samples optically transparent.
3. Tissue labeling – applying reagents and antibodies for deep, uniform labeling.
4. Light sheet microscopy – high-speed, high-resolution 3D imaging of whole organs and other samples.
5. 3D data analysis – AI-supported analysis and atlas registration to generate quantitative outputs.

Interactive data delivery

LifeCanvas delivers results through an interactive data platform designed to make complex 3D datasets easier to interpret. Deliverables can include:

• Regional cell counts registered to reference brain atlases such as the Allen Brain Atlas.
• Heat maps showing localized levels of protein expression.
• Coronal views with atlas overlays depicting labeled cells or signals throughout volumes like the brain.
• Side-by-side bar plots and comparative visualizations for different treatment or experimental groups.

Example sample types for CRO services

Whole organ mapping CRO services have been used with diverse samples, including:

• Central nervous system tissues (e.g. brain, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion).
• Peripheral nerves (e.g. sciatic nerve, peroneal nerve).
• Visceral organs (e.g. heart, lung, liver, pancreas, kidney).
• Organoids and other 3D culture systems.
• Adipose tissue and other soft tissues.
• Skin, eye, ear, muscle, limb, placenta.

This list summarizes common applications and is not exhaustive; specific feasibility and details should be confirmed directly with LifeCanvas.

LifeCanvas provides c-FOS+ brain mapping services to visualize and quantify neural activity throughout the central nervous system.

Purpose of the service

• c-FOS is a protein product of immediate early gene expression and is widely used as a marker of neuronal activity.
• Expression levels can increase after perturbations such as drug treatments or external stimuli.
• By labeling and imaging c-FOS+ cells, LifeCanvas enables whole-brain mapping of activity patterns.

Workflow from samples to data

When you send PFA-fixed samples from experimental animals, LifeCanvas technicians:

1. Use SHIELD to preserve protein antigenicity.
2. Actively clear and immunolabel tissue with specific antibodies using SmartBatch+.
3. Index-match samples with EasyIndex to prepare them for imaging.
4. Acquire volumetric light sheet images with SmartSPIM or MegaSPIM.
5. Analyze post-processed images with SmartAnalytics to derive cell counts, densities, heat maps, and other graphical outputs.

Data outputs

Through the interactive data delivery platform, c-FOS+ brain mapping projects can include:

• Regional cell counts registered to the Allen Brain Atlas.
• Heat maps showing localized levels of c-FOS+ cell expression, including treatment vs. control maps and subtracted maps for group comparisons.
• Coronal views with atlas overlays showing detected cells across the whole brain volume.
• Side-by-side bar plots summarizing experimental effects across multiple brain regions.

Applications

These services support neuroscience studies that require brain-wide readouts of activity patterns, such as investigations of:

• Stress and its neurobiological correlates.
• Reward, aversion, and addiction-related circuitry.
• Fear, memory, and learning.
• Other behaviors or disease models where c-FOS is used as a proxy for neural activation.

Project-specific details, including sample requirements and analysis endpoints, should be discussed directly with LifeCanvas.

• Email: info@lifecanvastech.com

Researchers and collaborators can use this address for general questions about products, services, and partnerships.

Technical support

• Email: support@lifecanvastech.com

This address is for technical support related to LifeCanvas products, technologies, and services.

CRO and services inquiries

For contract research (CRO) and whole organ mapping services:

• LifeCanvas provides online forms to inquire about CRO services and to contact specialists about specific applications.
• These forms can be accessed via the LifeCanvas website (for example, through pages such as "Inquire About CRO Services" or service-specific contact links).

Researchers are encouraged to provide as much detail as possible about their samples, targets, and research goals when submitting an inquiry so the LifeCanvas team can best assess project needs.

Updates and newsletter

LifeCanvas offers a monthly email update that may include:

• Best-practice tips for 3D tissue processing and imaging.
• Example 3D datasets and videos.
• Recent publications that use LifeCanvas technologies.
• Product and company news.

Visitors can sign up for this newsletter via the subscription form on the LifeCanvas website.

Examples of systems where LifeCanvas methods have been applied include:

• Nervous system – brain, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion, sciatic nerve, peroneal nerve.
• Cardiovascular system – heart, blood vessels, cardiomyocytes.
• Endocrine system – pancreas, adipose tissue.
• Digestive system – intestine, liver.
• Sensory organs – eye, ear.
• Respiratory system.
• Integumentary system – skin.
• Musculoskeletal system.
• Reproductive system.
• Organoids and 3D culture systems.
• Whole small animals – such as whole juvenile mice, where compatible with the workflow.

Example sample types for CRO workflows

Across LifeCanvas workflows and CRO services, representative sample types include:

• Whole rodent juvenile.
• Whole rodent head.
• Brain.
• Peroneal nerve.
• Sciatic nerve.
• Dorsal root ganglion.
• Spinal cord.
• Heart.
• Lung.
• Liver.
• Pancreas.
• Kidney.
• Organoids.
• Adipose tissue.
• Skin.
• Eye.
• Ear.
• Muscle.
• Limb.
• Placenta.

This list is indicative rather than exhaustive. For specific tissues, species, or experimental designs, researchers should confirm feasibility and requirements directly with LifeCanvas.

Ask anyway — the agent will say plainly that it is not published rather than guess.