This 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:

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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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Ever since the Danish bacteriologist Hans Christian Gram developed his eponymous test (the Gram stain) in 1882 to differentiate between types of bacteria, diagnostic tests have been integral to both public and individual health. The ability to rapidly and accurately detect microbes is becoming increasingly important given the emergence of diverse drug resistant strains, such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA; Gram positive bacteria resembling purple grapes), as well as the length of time it currently takes to diagnose and treat certain infections (e.g. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which cannot be detected via Gram stain but rather an acid-fast stain, has an incredibly slow doubling time which is why it can take weeks to accurately diagnose tuberculosis). In recent years genomic technologies have fortunately opened the doors for faster and more accurate detection of microbes than petri dish cultures and chemical staining can provide. Medgadget had the opportunity to interview two partner companies – PathoGenetix and Sagentia – that are developing a state-of-the-art Genome Sequence Scanning (GSS) technology, which promises to bring rapid microbial detection to the fields of microbial genomics research, food and product safety, and clinical infectious disease testing.

Shiv Gaglani, Medgadget: How many micro-organisms can be detected through the partnership technology?

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Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a new laboratory test that can rapidly identify Staphylococcus aureus in blood cultures. This new test takes advantage of unique isotopic labeling combined with specific bacteriophage amplification.

Before bacteria can be identified in a blood sample, they have to be multiplied enough times to reach detection thresholds and be incubated at least 18 to 24 hours. The new method, published in Molecular and Cellular Proteomics this month, reduces valuable culturing time to only two hours. The identification method takes advantage of the faster replication rate of viruses that can infect bacteria. A nitrogen-15 labeled bacteriophage is added to the test which specifically targets living Staphylococcus aureus cells. The phage replicates inside the bacteria and reaches the detection threshold much quicker. The phage proteins that were introduced with nitrogen-15 labels can be distinguished from the freshly replicated virus particles created in the S. aureus host cells. With mass spectrometry, a protein identification technique based on the mass and charge ratio of peptide fragments, the phage proteins can easily be detected. By comparing the labeled with the new replicated phage particles it is possible to calculate the number of original S. aureus host cells in the test sample.

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We recently reported on a probe developed by IBM that will allow pathologists to take smaller biopsies. Now there may be a way to perform such histology faster, at least for brain studies. The conventional technique is to freeze a fluorescence-tagged whole brain or fix it in paraffin wax and then proceed to meticulously slice it into hundreds or thousands of micron-wide sections that are then mounted on slides and imaged. This takes huge investments of time and effort, so scientists usually focus on mapping specific regions of interest (e.g. cortex or amygdala). At least one project, the Allen Brain Atlas, emerged in response with the goal to map the entire mouse brain so that all researchers may rely upon it for their work.

Similar atlases may now be created even faster thanks to researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, who announced in Nature Methods the development of a novel technique that automates and accelerates histological sectioning for 3D brain-mapping. Known as serial two-photon (STP) tomography, the technique

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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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We’re all familiar with the 3D glasses by now. But now the 3D technology is also going to be uses to teach medical students about the anatomy of the human body. At the New York University School of Medicine, students now can navigate through a virtual body using a computer and 3D glasses. They can dissect the virtual body, which is projected on a screen.

The virtual human body is made possible by BioDigital Systems, a medical visualization company from Manhattan that we have covered before. BioDigital makes anatomical animations for all kinds of companies and institutions, such as pharmaceutical companies, medical device makers and medical schools.

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Two pathology residents with a special interest in technology developed a new search engine tool with a special focus on pathology and histology. As pathology diagnoses are mostly driven by visual appearance, this site offers a good reference and practical training guide in all different tissue anomalies. It is based on the Google custom search service using which the designers selected some reliable and proven sources of illustrative pathology content.

For students, residents and other health care professionals who are interested in the visual context of their diagnoses it offers a good method to gain some related micro and macroscopic images. The search can be refined to cytology, whole slides, Histology and Dermpaths.

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Researchers at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have been investigating the use of a new 3D cell imaging technology called Cell-CT to characterize subtle changes in a cell’s nuclear structure in order to improve the diagnostic accuracy and prognosis for breast cancer.

Cell-CT uses optical projection tomography to render cells in 3D and is developed by VisionGate, Inc. out of Phoenix Arizona. The Cell-CT appears to be in the process of commercialization and its operation is described on the company’s product page and demonstrated quite nicely in the video below.

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The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is one of the most important values in the clinical bacteriology. The lowest concentration of a specific antibiotic that inhibits growth after overnight incubation determines whether an organism is reported susceptible or resistant. Researchers from the department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, published about a portable self-loading technology for determining MIC values in journal Lab on a Chip this week. The device is kept as simple as possible and requires only a single user pipetting step to introduce the sample.

The device consists of chambers molded in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a silicone like material often used in microfluidic platforms because of its flow characteristics. The chambers are preloaded with different antibiotics and vacuum sealed to a second layer. The new vacuum approach developed by this research group made it possible to automatically fill the dead-end microfluidic chambers that normally require valves and actuators. Because the gas is absorbed by the PDMS, the sample fluid will flow towards the chambers and dissolve the antibiotic without cross contamination. An added colorimetric pH indicator will visualize the growth of bacteria.

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