And the Winners are...

"Easy" is contrary to describe the job the scientific committee had while picking the winners of our "Best Time-Lapse Movie VisiSens Competition". But in the end it was Markus Huettel?s work on "Oxygen dynamics around buried tar balls embedded in permeable Florida marine sands" that convinced most and was chosen 1st place among the 17 terrific contributions.

Scientists from all over the world took part in the VisiSens Competition. The researchers got the opportunity to use the oxygen imaging system for several months, to conduct experiments and perform 2D visualization of oxygen distributions in their field of interest. Dr Gregor Liebsch, Head of Imaging Solutions, stated: "The results exceeded all expectations and I was extremely impressed in which manifold applications oxygen imaging has been applied to get new and exciting insights." DOTR is now proud to announce the following winners:

The 1st prize goes to Markus Huettel, Professor of Oceanography at Florida State University. Huettel?s report focuses on the oxygen dynamics around curde oil in marine sands, and whether these oxygen dynamics reflect aerobic oil degradation. Everybody remembers the Deepwater Horizon accident in 2010 and years after the catastrophe still an unknown amount of crude oil is embedded in shore sediments of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. With the VisiSens system  oxygen concentrations around buried tar balls were successfully investigated in a laboratory flume study. ? Read more!

The report by Carmen Ascaso and Jacek Wierzchos on "Assessing biocide actions on lichens colonizing a dolostone Roman bridge" was chosen for 2nd place. One can observe lichens growing on historical stone bridges. The oxygen imaging system allowed determining the efficiency of biocides applied to those lichens in situ - showing results only within minutes! This technique analyses directly the health state of a small quantity of biological material on the facade of a historical monument or building and, therefore, might be an important step for their protection by controlling microbial biodeterioration. ? Read more!

3rd place was given to Michael Pflaum, Hanover Medical School, for his report on the development of extracorporeal membrane oxygenators to support diseased lungs, bridging the time to lung transplantation. The VisiSens system was tested for its applicability to monitor and quantify the gas exchange capacity of coated hollow fibers. Pflaum was able to monitor the oxygen saturation directly at the site of diffusion, and to detect occluded hollow fibers.
? Read more!

As explained by Dr Gernot T. John, Director Marketing & Innovation: "It was so hard to choose the winners, that we decided to give an extra prize to Christopher Ochs, Junichi Kasuya and Andrea Pavesi from the MIT for their contribution on "Cellular Oxygen Consumption in Microfluidic Devices". We think that microfluidics are an emerging technology which shows perfectly how DOTR devices bring great accuracy to small scale devices." 

The DOTR Team congratulates the winners on their impressive results and the best time-lapse movies! And a big round of applause to all participants for their great work, commitment and enthusiasm! We hope all enjoyed  working with the VisiSens system and the created data will promote their research projects. Within the next couple of months all projects will be presented on DOTR? webpage.