Macro-observation facility
Using the macro-observation facility, an eyeball, a heart, and an aortic arch were selected as observational objects; in the case of the eyeball, the aim was to attain an observational resolution of 25 μm.
In order to observe the object with high resolution, a high-definition system was introduced into the facility, and the slicing apparatus was set to a minimum slicing width of 10 μm. Since the observational objects were human-derived specimens, there was a danger of infection. Hence, a plastic chamber and a HEPA filter were installed on the outside of the facility in order to schieve isolation. Since the facility was remotely operated from the outside, an observer could be protected from specimen dust contamination.
A human eyeball was observed and the information on its shape was collected by using this facility (--> Sakiko Nakamura’s home page).
The eyeball could be digitized with a resolution of 25 μm.
Based on the images obtained, each tissue constituting the eyeball was extracted and a shape model of the eyeball was constructed (--> Nobunori Kakusho’s home page).

Micro-observation facility
The micro-observation facility was developed for observing finer objects.
This facility was newly designed for confocal observation together with observations using reflecting white light and epifluorescent light. A confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) was incorporated into the facility so that each observation could be performed simultaneously or individually. For the confocal observation, a CSU-10 confocal unit with a Nipkow disc (Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Japan) and a laser beam with a wavelength set to 488,568,633 nm were used. A filter wheel was also installed on the front part of the camera. Moreover, in order to enable observations under low-intensity light, an ICCD camera with an image intensifier (ICCD-300/DF; Hamamatsu Photonics K. K., Japan) was used.
Observations with a resolution of 0.2 μm were performed using an objective lens with 2x to 80x magnifications. Moreover, in order to enable 0.5-μm fine slicing of the specimen, a device in which the slicing apparatus could be finely adjusted was newly designed and manufactured.

Development of a tensile-testing machine for the biological specimen
In order to measure dynamical characteristics—essential to the finite element analysis of an eyeball—a tensile-testing machine was developed.
Since an eyeball consists of tissues comprising a globular layer, the curvature of the specimen becomes a problem if its size is large. Therefore, the specimen must be small in size; for the measurement of dynamical characteristics, specimens of a few millimeters (at maximum) in length are required.
In order to achieve this objective, a device for slicing the specimen to an arbitrary shape was developed.
In the tensile test of biological soft tissue, it is important to slice the specimen to a dumbbell shape. Therefore, a slicing device using an excimer laser, in which the retina could be sliced to an arbitrary shape without thermal influence, was developed (--> a list of related papers). Moreover, since the laser takes longer to slice relatively thicker tissue, a perforation device with double ring-shaped knives was developed and the specimen was sliced to a ring shape (--> a list of related papers).
Measurement in liquid is required if soft tissue is to be measured whilst alive.  Therefore, a horizontal tensile-testing machine for specimens of millimeter dimensions was developed. The specimen was hooked onto two pins in liquid, a load cell for detecting the tensile strength was allocated to one pin, and the tensile strength was measured by moving the other pin.
Since the speed of the moving pin was feedback-controlled, the pin could be moved at a fixed speed. Moreover, since the moving process was recorded by a video camera, the relationship between the amount of movement and the tensile strength could be examined. Using this system, the dynamical characteristics of the cornea, the sclera, the choroid, and the lens capsule have accordingly been clarified (--> Junko Sunaga’s home page).