Evanescent light illumination was introduced into a multi-mode microscope to construct a new type of total internal reflection fluorescence microscope (TIRFM). This microscope, capable of TIRFM, high resolution video-enhanced differential interference contrast (DIC), epifluorescence, interference relfection (IR) imaging, was combined with an image acquisition system for time-lapse microscopy. For the understanding the integrin dynamics, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were stained with FITC labeled anti-CD29 (beta 1 subunit of integrin) and plated on a glass coverslip coated with fibronectin to visualize clustering processes of integrins in the living HUVECs. Dynamics of integrins in HUVECs were observed by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM).

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Atherosclerosis tends to occur at specific sites, including the bifurcation of arteries. An arterial bifurcation has a sharp edge, and therefore a minute deformation or movement can have a strong effect on the blood flow. In order to study the blood flow at bifurcations using a realistic CFD model, the geometry of a three-dimensional blood vessel configuration was reconstructed by cutting the vessel into slices of order of 1 micrometer. A precise CFD model and an experimental flow model were successfully constructed from the obtained data set, using a computer graphics technique and a rapid prototyping method.

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