ConductVision Organoid Monitor
Kidney organoids, monitored 24/7
In a pilot, ConductVision measures each kidney organoid's size and shape and follows its visible cysts as they form, swell and fuse, from images taken every 5 to 15 minutes.
24/7 monitoring
What a pilot records for each kidney organoid
ConductVision records each measure for every visible organoid, keyed by plate, well, organoid ID and time.
| Measure | What it shows | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Every organoid | ||
| Area | The projected area of each organoid, with its longest and shortest diameters | Every 5 to 15 minutes |
| Growth rate | How fast each organoid grows or shrinks, per hour and per day | Every 5 to 15 minutes |
| Shape | How round, long or irregular each outline is | Every 5 to 15 minutes |
| Movement | How far and how fast each organoid moves, where organoids are free to move | Every 5 to 15 minutes |
| Fusion | Two organoids joining into one, with both parent IDs kept | Each time it happens |
| Fragmentation | Organoids splitting or shedding pieces, each piece keeping its parent ID | Each time it happens |
| Structural collapse | A sudden loss of area, roundness or boundary, with a clip of the change | Each time it happens |
| Kidney organoids | ||
| Cysts | Visible cysts as they appear and fuse, and each cyst's size where the camera resolves its edge | Every 5 to 15 minutes |
| Cyst swelling | How fast each cyst swells or shrinks | Every 5 to 15 minutes |
| Surface | How smooth or folded each organoid's outline is | Every 5 to 15 minutes |
| Treatment response | How cysts and organoids change after a treatment, against your controls | Every 5 to 15 minutes |
When a fusion, fragmentation or structural collapse begins, the camera images that well every minute until the change ends. Fragmentation and structural collapse describe what the camera sees in each organoid's outline, not whether its cells are alive.
Beyond the camera
What needs higher magnification or a dye
- Fine tubules
- Nephron structures
- Fine epithelial layers
- Cell polarity
Evidence
What published studies found in kidney organoids
Other research groups measured these in microscope images of kidney organoids with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) mutations.
Visible cysts
Knocking out the PKD1 or PKD2 gene made cysts form from kidney organoid tubules.1 Large, translucent cysts first appeared about 35 days after plating and kept expanding for the rest of the culture.1 To catch cysts as they form, a pilot has to start early in the culture or run for weeks.
How often cysts form
In their own kidney model, Shamshirgaran and colleagues saw fluid-filled cyst-like structures in about 50% of PKD knockout organoids and in less than 1% of controls.2
Cyst swelling under flow
Li and colleagues put PKD organoids on a chip under fluid flow.3 Under flow, cysts grew by about 20,000 µm² of area an hour, while control organoids did not swell appreciably.3 Time-lapse imaging showed the cysts expanding and deflating in breath-like cycles within hours of the flow starting.3
Cyst size over time
Gulieva and colleagues measured the cyst area of each organoid on days 0, 1, 3, 7 and 14, from outlines drawn by hand.4 Two drugs, AV457 and everolimus, reduced cyst growth over time.4
Shrinking cysts
At the highest everolimus doses, phase-contrast images showed the cysts breaking down, and the authors warn that toxicity can masquerade as efficacy.4 A pilot reports cyst shrinkage as a measurement and leaves its meaning to your own assays.
Camera specification
The cameras a pilot uses
Around the clock
- A full stack of focal planes for every well, every 5 to 15 minutes
Image
- 2 µm or less per pixel
Light
- Brightfield LED light, with no dyes or labels
Incubator
- Inside your incubator, or in a chamber beside it that keeps the same conditions
References
- Freedman BS, Brooks CR, Lam AQ, et al. (2015). Modelling kidney disease with CRISPR-mutant kidney organoids derived from human pluripotent epiblast spheroids. Nature Communications.
- Shamshirgaran Y, Jonebring A, Svensson A, et al. (2021). Rapid target validation in a Cas9-inducible hiPSC derived kidney model. Scientific Reports.
- Li SR, Gulieva RE, Helms L, et al. (2022). Glucose absorption drives cystogenesis in a human organoid-on-chip model of polycystic kidney disease. Nature Communications.
- Gulieva RE, Ahmadvand P, Freedman BS (2025). A novel rapalog shows improved safety vs. efficacy in a human organoid model of polycystic kidney disease. Stem Cell Reports.
Plan a kidney organoid pilot
Tell us about your kidney organoids, your plates and the cyst question you want answered.
