Pathology Archives

Bioscience’s Vectra DA Assay Helps Doctors Predict Patients’ Response to RA Treatment

by Smit Shah on May 31, 2011 •

nvo2efj Bioscience’s Vectra DA Assay Helps Doctors Predict Patients’ Response to RA Treatment

South San Francisco, CA based Crescendo Bioscience has announced study results which validate its Vectra DA blood test’s ability to predict how a patient will respond to treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Vectra DA tests for 12 biomarkers which are associated with RA, and uses a proprietary algorithm to assign a numerical score which can determine how a patient is responding to treatment.

From the product page:

Vectra DA was developed using a broad survey of RA biology, with serial studies to determine a final assay composed of biomarkers that robustly assess disease activity. Approximately 400 candidate biomarkers were chosen from an extensive screen of literature, databases, and experimental data that included gene expression, protein arrays, and biological pathways. Of those, 130 candidates were screened in clinical studies. Successive studies in >1,300 total patients with RA refined the biomarker set to those 12 with the greatest ability to evaluate RA disease activity, based on association with clinical measures including the DAS28CRP. A statistical algorithm was developed that used the biomarker levels to calculate a disease activity score. Evaluation of the algorithm in an independent patient cohort validated its ability to quantify RA disease activity.

Press release:Studies Show Crescendo Bioscience’s Vectraâ„¢ DA Can Track Early Response to Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy and Predict Joint Damage at the Molecular Level…

Product page: Vectra DA…

Genetics / in the news... / Pathology

BD MAX Open Molecular Platform Coming to U.S.

by Gene Ostrovsky on May 24, 2011
BD MAX Open Molecular Platform Coming to U.S.

BD has released its BD MAX bench-top molecular system that can run both BD developed assays and ones created in the laboratory. As such it can be a powerful tool in detecting emerging new pathogens. The BD Max automates the testing process by enabling technicians to simply load user-defined primers/probes to reagent strips along with a group of samples and walk away. The system’s simplified user-defined protocols allow technicians to mix different samples and assays within a single run.

BD MAX is the first and only fully automated, bench-top molecular system designed to perform a broad range of molecular tests. This includes in vitro diagnostic (IVD) assays, but also user-defined protocols and life science research applications. The BD MAX System gives clinical laboratory professionals new ability to help their institutions respond to emerging threats, such as new strains of deadly drug-resistant bacteria or respiratory illnesses.

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Pathology

Aperio Launches ScanScope AT Digital Pathology Slide Scanner

by Wouter Stomp on May 17, 2011
Aperio Launches ScanScope AT Digital Pathology Slide Scanner

Aperio has announced the launch of the ScanScope AT pathology slide scanner. It is a small-footprint scanner which features robotic slide loading and handling. According to the company it has the highest throughput, lowest cost-per-slide and highest-capacity of all slide scanners currently on the market. Image quality is said to be superior and first scan success rates are high. It has a 400-slide capacity and can process 30 slides per hour. It uses automated tissue finding, focusing, and calibration processes to increase the scanning success rate. Digital slides are stored in standard SVS (TIFF) format.

Press release: Aperio Launches State-of-the-Art Digital Slide Scanning Instrument Featuring Highest Throughput, Compact Design and Superior Image Quality…

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Pathology

New Program Predicts Salmonella Levels in Pork

by Scott Jung on May 10, 2011
New Program Predicts Salmonella Levels in Pork

Warning: don’t read the following if you’ve recently dined on pig! A new program developed by the UK’s Institute of Food Research, the US Department of Agriculture, and Australia’s Food Safety Centre seeks to predict the amount of Salmonella present on different levels of the pork supply chain.
Tracing the cause of Salmonella, or any bacterial contamination, along a food supply chain can be difficult due to different environmental conditions, so the foundation of the program was Combase, a database of microbial growth data in various environmental conditions from previous research. Taking into account the temperature, pH, and water activity of actual processing conditions, the program can give accurate probabilistic and kinetic models of Salmonella concentration.

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Pathology

Biomagnetics Announces the First Urine-Based Test for Tuberculosis

by Smit Shah on May 10, 2011
Biomagnetics Announces the First Urine-Based Test for Tuberculosis

Traditional tuberculosis testing can take days to return a result, and, while newer PCR tests can deliver results in a matter of hours, they are much more expensive. Orangevale, CA-based Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corporation claims that its new urine-based test will solve both the time and cost problems by providing results in about 20 minutes, at a significantly lower cost than PCR-based testing. The new test is performed using optical biosensor technology which Biomagnetics licensed from Los Alamos National Laboratory last year. The company plans to incorporate the new technology into a handheld device to enable point of care testing.
From the product page:

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Diagnostics / Pathology

Slim and Sleek Microscope Takes Sharp, Hi-Res Images

by Scott Jung on May 4, 2011
Slim and Sleek Microscope Takes Sharp, Hi-Res Images

The “sexy gadget” bug must have bitten a new microscope from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Germany. That’s because this microscope bears little resemblance to a traditional optical microscope, looking more like a digital camera or a cellular phone. With an optical length of only 5.3 millimeters, the sleek imaging device is small enough to be carried in a pocket and operated by being held in the user’s hand.
But don’t assume that the device is all looks: the microscope can examine specimens to a resolution of five micrometers. Results only take fractions of a second to generate, and images are recorded so quickly that the images aren’t blurred even if the user is holding the microscope in his or her hand.

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Pathology

Philips and NEC Form Digital Pathology Partnership

by Gene Ostrovsky on May 2, 2011
Philips and NEC Form Digital Pathology Partnership

Philips and NEC have joined forced to deliver the next generation of high-throughput pathology analyzers. One of the main features of the upcoming work stations will be Philips’ proprietary ‘continuous auto-focus’ technology that accurately follows height variations in the thin section tissue surface:

“With its e-Pathology system, NEC already has an impressive position in the digital pathology market in Japan and is well positioned to duplicate that success in many other parts of the world,” says Perry van Rijsingen, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Philips Healthcare Incubator. “I believe our joint development of highly integrated systems that combine superior slide scanning with state-of-the-art image analysis will be essential to unlocking the growth potential of digital pathology by helping to meet the ever-increasing demand for high-volume high-throughput pathology solutions.”

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Emergency Medicine / Medicine / Pathology / Pediatrics / Surgery

Tube Touch Sharp With a Fully Passive Safety System Debuts in US

by Gene Ostrovsky on Apr 20, 2011
Tube Touch Sharp With a Fully Passive Safety System Debuts in US

MedPro, a Lexington, Kentucky firm has partnered with Austrian Greiner Bio-One to make available the company’s VACUETTE PREMIUM Safety Needle System Tube Touch in the U.S.
The company claims this is the first blood collection device available in America that is completely passive, automatically hiding the needle without the clinician having to perform any additional tasks.

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Medicine / Orthopedic Surgery / Pathology

Medtronic’s MARROWMAX Needle Speeds Up Bone Marrow Aspiration Procedures

by Smit Shah on Apr 20, 2011
Medtronic's MARROWMAX Needle Speeds Up Bone Marrow Aspiration Procedures

Medtronic has announced that it will be making its MARROWMAX Bone Marrow Aspiration Needle Kit available in the US. The MARROWMAX is designed for extraction of bone marrow and blood, for analysis or to be applied to a synthetic bone graft. Medtronic claims that this new kit can more efficiently draw marrow from the insertion site, which will result in faster aspiration times and greater comfort for patients.
From the press release:

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