Diagnostics Archives

New Product Launches at SLAS 2012 Event

by Jan Sinnige on Feb 9, 2012 •

arktic New Product Launches at SLAS 2012 EventThis week the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) is hosting SLAS2012, a conference dedicated to technical innovation and laboratory automation. Different fields in laboratory technology like high-throughput technologies, micro- and nanotechnologies, bioanalytical techniques and informatics are covered. SLAS2012 also hosts an exhibition with companies from around the world showcasing their latest innovative technologies and of course some new product launches.

Here is a short summary of some of the new equipment launched at this event:

TTP LabTech LTD, Melbourn, United Kingdom, demonstrates three new products:

The Arktic is an automated -80°C storage for biobanking applications, able to store up to 95,000 0.5 mL or 60,000 1.0 mL samples. Tubes can be pre-sorted within the -80°C environment with racks of up to 96 tubes being dispensed in under 3 minutes. Individual microtubes can be cherry picked and delivered from store within 60 seconds, 2D barcoded microtubes ensure easy sample identification and tracking.

aequus New Product Launches at SLAS 2012 EventThe Mosquito HV is a device bridging the gap between nanolitre and microlitre liquid handling. It provides precise and repeatable pipetting and allows you to accurately handle intermediate volumes for low volume serial dilutions and assay plate preparation across the volume range of 500nL to 5µL.

The aequus is a non-contact sensor for automated monitoring of system stock fluids in analytical instruments. It comes with an easy to read display providing real time information with warnings of fluid level limits. Up to 12 channels can be monitored in realtime. A network connection makes it possible to monitor fluid levels remotely.

Link: TTP LabTech LTD…

 

CyBio AG, Jena, Germany, a manufacturer of automated liquid handling platforms presents a new scalable bench top pipettor, the CyBio-FeliX. It features a wide volume range and format flexibility. It features 12 deck positions arranged in a novel two-level approach and addresses a wide set of applications in the field of drug discovery and genomics as well as biological and biochemical methods.

Link: CyBio AG…

 

Molecular Devices, LLC, Sunnyvale, CA, developed the new QPix 400 series for microbial colony picking. It offers the unique option to simultaneously detect colonies and quantify fluorescent markers in a pre-screening step before picking. QPix4601 New Product Launches at SLAS 2012 EventThis pre-screening step enables the colonies of interest to be objectively identified and selected. Together with highly accurate robotics and organism-specific colony picking pins, scientists can ensure that the right colony is picked every time. An agar height sensor further increases accuracy at the picking stage. Application-driven software includes tools to easily track sample histories throughout the workflow. Applications include areas such as protein expression, biofuel research, enzyme evolution, phage display, DNA sequencing and library generation and management.

Link: QPix systems…

 

Etaluma, Inc., Carlsbad, CA, launched the LumaScope, a simple compact inverted fluorescence/brightfield microscope designed around a CMOS sensor with only focus, brightfield/fluorescence toggle, and USB power-input/image-output. It is portable, sturdy, and inexpensive; and yields laboratory grade images on your laptop screen.

Link: Etaluma…

 

MaxCyte, Inc, Gaithersburg, MD, demonstrated the Maxcyte VLX Large Scale Transfection System, a small-footprint instrument specifically designed for extremely large volume transient transfection in a sterile, closed transfection environment. Using proprietary flow electroporation technology, the MaxCyte VLX can transfect cells in less than 30 minutes with high cell viability and transfection efficiencies. This system is ideal for the rapid production of recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies, viral vectors, vaccines & VLPs from the bench through cGMP pilots and commercial manufacturing.

Link: MaxCyte, Inc…

Diagnostics / Radiology / Space Medicine / Telemedicine

Augmented Reality System Helps Astronauts Diagnose Medical Problems in Outer Space

by Wouter Stomp on Feb 9, 2012
Augmented Reality System Helps Astronauts Diagnose Medical Problems in Outer Space

In space, nothing is as easy as it is on Earth, and an ill astronaut could pose a major problem to any space mission. For advanced diagnostis purposes, the International Space Station already carries an ultrasound device, but astronauts are generally not trained ultrasound operators. Also, a connection to ground-based expert help may involve unwieldy communication delays, so it is no surprise space agencies are looking into ways to make future space travellers more self-sufficient.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is working on an augmented reality system that will help astronauts better diagnose medical problems in space. The Computer Assisted Medical Diagnosis and Surgery System, CAMDASS as it is strangely called, is a wearable augmented reality system with a head-mounted display that merges actual and virtual reality by precisely combining computer-generated graphics with the wearer’s view.

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Diagnostics / Telemedicine

Skylight Microscope-Smartphone Adapter Launching in March

by Gavin Corley on Feb 8, 2012
Skylight Microscope-Smartphone Adapter Launching in March

SkyLight, a technology start-up which began life as a Kickstarter project, has announced the release of its namesake microscope-to-smartphone adapter this coming March. The minimalist SkyLight adapter can optically interface any smartphone device to any microscope via a series of simple sliding and locking fixtures, which help to position the smartphone’s camera over the microscope’s eyepiece lens.The adapter is made of lightweight plastics and weighs less than an iPhone.

The project was the brainchild of Andy Miller, a designer and engineer who, as an undergraduate, developed low cost microscopes for the developing world. According to the company, the SkyLight adapter was designed as a simple way to remotely connect doctors to patients in rural locations using existing microscopes and easy to use, increasingly available smartphones.

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Diagnostics / Pathology

Two Cornell Engineers Combine Forces to Design Low-Cost, Portable Pathogen Detector

by Scott Jung on Feb 6, 2012
Two Cornell Engineers Combine Forces to Design Low-Cost, Portable Pathogen Detector

Dan Luo, a Cornell University professor of biological and environmental engineering, and Edwin Kan, professor of electrical and computer engineering, have collaborated on a handheld pathogen detector that could someday give health care workers in the developing world speedy results in the field when identifying such pathogens as tuberculosis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV. The work is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the Grand Challenge program to develop “point-of-care diagnostics” for developing countries.

Luo has devised a novel method of detecting harmful pathogens by essentially “amplifying” pathogen DNA. With just a single strand of pathogen DNA, special double Y shaped DNA strands can be formed that will quickly polymerize and create clumps that are easily detectable. Kan has developed the detector part of the system, which measures the mass and charge of the polymerized Y-DNA. The chip is based on the popular and inexpensive CMOS technology found commonly in electronic devices, which gives the device the ability to be easily integrated into a cellphone or small computer.

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Art / Diagnostics / etc. / Telemedicine

Corning Shows Us a Future Made of Glass

by Scott Jung on Feb 6, 2012

Corning lately may be best known for their ultra-durable Gorilla Glass found on Apple products as well as other smartphones and computers, but it also has a historic and revered research and development arm that was responsible for the glass found in innovations that include the original Edison lightbulb and the first liquid crystal displays. Corning is also dedicated to supporting the life sciences industry: PYREX, for example, is a common glass found in today’s laboratories.

The 104-year old R&D research arm recently released a video of its glass-filled vision for the next 104 years. Some of the concepts presented are already in development, but one intriguing section in the middle of the video visualizes the use of Corning glass in the medical lab. We’ll start you off at the 3:07 mark and you’ll see glass used in futuristic, transparent medical terminals and tablets. You’ll also see glass (which is antimicrobial) used in a holographic examination table integrated with a cool-looking MRI scanner.

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Diagnostics / Genetics / in the news...

DNA Sequencing Moving Into The Clinic; Used to Diagnose Mitochondrial Disease in 42 Children

by Wouter Stomp on Jan 26, 2012
DNA Sequencing Moving Into The Clinic; Used to Diagnose Mitochondrial Disease in 42 Children

DNA sequencing is slowly making the long anticipated move from the research lab into clinical use. After a few isolated reports last year where it was used to diagnose individual patients, now we see one of the first reports of it being used successfully on a larger scale, in 42 infants suspected of mitochondrial disease.

Mitochondria carry their own DNA but also rely on nuclear DNA for part of their functioning, and mutations in either of the two can cause malfunctioning of the mitochondria. Mitochondrial diseases may lead to a wide variety of symptoms and can be hard to diagnose, despite recent advances in genetic and biochemical tests.

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Cardiology / Diagnostics

St. Jude Medical’s FAME II Trial Halted Due to Positive Results

by Paul Pisklak on Jan 23, 2012
St. Jude Medical's FAME II Trial Halted Due to Positive Results

In the world of coronary artery disease treatment, if you blink, you will miss the latest development, so stent your eyes open for this latest piece of the puzzle.  The latest question that keeps getting a new answer with every study is whether optimum medical therapy (OMT) or percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) provides the best results for patients with coronary artery disease. With the introduction of fractional flow reserve (FFR) technology, the question had to be asked anew.

In case you haven’t heard of it, FFR is an index that compares the pressure proximal to a coronary artery obstruction to the pressure distal to that obstruction.  In other words, it measures how much a given lesion actually impairs flow to the myocardium.  Previously, the decision about whether to stent a given vessel was more subjective, and lesions that looked “suspicious” on angiograms were stented.  FFR gives a more objective component to this judgment, and it was hoped that this would improve outcomes.

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Diagnostics / Net News / Sports Medicine / Telemedicine

Valencell’s V-LINC Sensor Technology Monitors Your Health Using Your Music Player’s Buds

by Scott Jung on Jan 18, 2012
Valencell's V-LINC Sensor Technology Monitors Your Health Using Your Music Player's Buds

We all know that the ear is a multifunctional, anatomical marvel. We often take for granted its ability to allow us to eavesdrop, to rock out to the latest beats, to hold up our spectacles, and to be pierced over and over again. Last week at CES 2012 in Las Vegas, Raleigh, NC-based Valencell announced their sensor technology that uses the ear’s unique physiology to gather vital health and fitness data.

The technology is called V-LINC, and it’s being built into the ubiquitous set of earbuds that you probably use every day. According to Valencell, “V-LINC technology comprises the only earbud-based continuous heart rate monitoring technology proven accurate during virtually any exercise in virtually any physical environment or condition.” According to the V-LINC website, its earbud sensors are able to measure the following biometric data:

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Diagnostics / Genetics / Oncology / Pathology

IBM Develops Miniaturized Silicon Probe for Disease Diagnostics

by Shiv Gaglani on Jan 13, 2012
IBM Develops Miniaturized Silicon Probe for Disease Diagnostics

Based upon the binding specificity of antibodies to target molecules, immunohistochemistry (IHC) has been used in labs for decades to research protein expression, or lack thereof, in tissue samples. It’s a great example of a translational technique that is being used every day in hospital pathology labs around the world to, for example, classify tumor biopsies based on diagnostic markers. This in turn informs the prognosis and treatment options for the patient from whom the biopsy was taken. However IHC remains a tedious process that involves multiple conjugation steps to bind antibodies to and color-code the target molecules; mistakes can lead to over- and under-exposure which renders the sample unusable and inconclusive.

The technique may have just gotten more sensitive thanks to IBM researchers. Reporting in today’s online issue of Lab on a Chip, the team has developed an ultra-miniaturized probe for immunohistochemistry. According to the press release:

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