AMICE
the Dutch Infrastructure of Advanced Multimodal Imaging Centers
Imaging inside living organisms is important to understand how life develops, how healthy organisms work, and how diseases begin and progress. This demands specialized equipment and knowledge. AMICE (Advanced Multimodal Imaging Centers) is a national Dutch network that connects all academic facilities that develop and offer access to such advanced imaging tools and expertise. In addition, AMICE promotes re-use of data to increase efficiency in science, while reducing the use of animals in research. This national infrastructure is important for researchers to acquire more knowledge and understanding and to stay at the top of international science.
Infrastructure and User Services
AMICE is a Dutch multi-sited infrastructure in which all Dutch experimental & preclinical imaging centers participate. The LSRI is supported by research groups from technical universities, data science and statistics (CWI and LUMC) and specialized research facilities such as BPRC (Rijswijk) and BSL3-facility (Erasmus MC) who provide additional expertise in development of new technology, data science and statistical innovation, and disease models. The AMICE consortium partners each provide a local infrastructure where widely used or less portable equipment (e.g. MRI and PET/SPECT scanners) and general imaging science expertise are located at all or geographically diverse sites to assure ease of use.
Highly specialized equipment is/will be placed at specialized sites where technical and application expertise on that modality is present, e.g. ultra-high field MRI and newly developed advanced (hybrid) imaging systems. In this way imaging can progress at a high level at all sites, while specialized equipment and expertise is accessible to all users through the national infrastructure. AMICE strives to create a centrally-coordinated FAIR data repository, to enable data sharing and re-use of data to improve robustness of new experiments.
To further increase scientific robustness AMICE also aims at creating centralized data analytic pipelines and statistical toolboxes, including expert support. Importantly, AMICE will also serve as a training and expertise center, providing best-practice recommendations for research and commercial applications of existing and new techniques, while implementing the 3R’s and Open Science.
Examples/description of the type of research
AMICE as a preclinical/experimental imaging infrastructure offers a platform for development, evaluation and application of high-end, multi-modal imaging technology to study within life sciences, drug development and to a limited extent in material sciences. It enables researchers to look within living material and observe how individual aspects (molecules, cells, organelles, organs) function and interact in their natural habitat: the complex environment of a living organism. In addition, AMICE will provide a centralized and easily accessible FAIR data repository and image analysis toolbox, to enable data sharing; re-use of data, and consistent and robust data analysis. These aspects will increase the informative value of imaging data.
A main research application field of AMICE comprises all biomedical research topics where research is focused on elucidating biological processes during normal development, disease and/or response to treatment. This includes research focused on how drugs behave in the body and how they exert their effect. Main application fields for which AMICE currently provides infrastructure and expertise include: Neuroscience, Cardiovascular science, Oncology and Regenerative Medicine.
How to access the infrastructure?
- Physical access: Use of imaging systems; Expert advice; training and education
- Virtual (digital) access: open access data infrastructure; data analysis toolbox
- Remote access: Expert advice; training and education