With the responsibility for patients on one hand, growing demand and increasing costs on the other, physicians responsible for cytogenetics and cancer genetics institutes find themselves pulled between these two extremes. But with automation of the tedious, yet critical image analysis, MetaSystems provides the tools to take the pressure off and helps to maintain, or even increase, quality standards with a much shorter case turnaround time.
In laboratory environments, data typically comes from many different, and often unrelated, sources. For example, patient data may be provided by a central laboratory information system (LIS), specimen samples at the lab bench may be identified by bar codes, images are generated by automated scanning systems or interactive capture stations, and external files may need to be kept.
Neon has been designed to integrate and organize all of these data elements, and provide highly efficient tools to manage results. Neon revolutionizes laboratory workflow management by using an innovative, secure file format and organizing and displaying information in an extremely efficient and customizable manner. Users always have easy access to precise information about case status, history of images, analysis results, and much more. Data import and export, even with customized data fields and global, cross-application reporting, is available to effectively manage daily workflow.
Automated imaging is a core competence of MetaSystems. Metafer, our globally renowned, fully automated slide scanning platform, is an extension of Neon. The Metafer MSearch module can automatically locate metaphases and acquire high resolution images without user input. The images may be analyzed on any workstation running the Ikaros karyotyping software module. Ikaros is the karyotyping application module of a Neon workstation. Ikaros can process metaphase images automatically captured with Metafer. The optimized screen architecture of Ikaros allows for extremely fast and efficient interactive image analysis. Ikaros works with any chromosome banding method, with fluorescence, and with chromosomes of any species. Smaller labs may configure Ikaros as a standalone system - equipped with the revolutionary MetaSystems CoolCube camera.
The Isis application module running on a Neon workstation is the perfect tool for color fluorescence imaging. Isis can capture up to 12 color channels or use images acquired automatically by Metafer to enhance, process and display FISH results. Isis also supports mFISH and multi-color chromosome banding (mBAND), CGH and telomere analysis.
Our sophisticated image analysis algorithms can automatically process FISH slides for spot counting through the FISH signal counting module on the Metafer platform. Metafer is well adapted to the continuously growing portfolio of DNA probes from our partner company, MetaSystems Probes. Smart Scanning algorithms guarantee a fast and robust analysis workflow, for example with the optimization of the scan based on cell density. The possibility to setup advanced scanning protocols allows external LIMS to operate the system remotely. Once the automated analysis is finished, all detected cells are displayed in an easily navigable gallery, while signal patterns are summarized in convenient graphs and tables.
The highly efficient RapidScore workflow allows for combining manual scoring strategies with the advantages of automated analysis. With RapidScore, cells that have been automatically pre-classified can easily be revised and, if required, re-classified with just one keystroke. With the dedicated external RapidScore keypad cell classes and the most important navigation features are directly accessible. New classes of cells can be dynamically defined based on signal and fusion patterns. Comprehensive graphs are updated on-the-fly during the scoring procedure. RapidScore also supports blind studies with multiple scorers.
MetaSystems products are also perfectly suited to apply automated FISH analysis to tissue sections. In this sense they complement DNA FISH probes of MetaSystems Probes which are optimized for tissues. The many tools under the hood of the Metafer slide scanning platform allow for creating extremely sophisticated Smart Scanning procedures for the analysis of FISH signals in selected regions of tissue:
Autoimmune diseases are caused by abnormal immune responses against the constituents of the organism. As a result inflammations or even severe organ damages can arise. Autoantibodies are located in the blood serum of the patient. Their presence is significant for the study of autoimmune diseases in preclinical phase, therefore they are employed in screening programs aimed at identifying individuals at risk.
The slide scanning platform Metafer enables routine analysis of fluorescence autoimmune samples in a highly reproducible way. Guaranteed constant lighting conditions thanks to LED illumination, well defined integration parameters, flexibility in the use of high-throughput multi-field specimen, and powerful image processing algorithms are the key features of Metafer to automatically score autoimmune samples. Metafer's unrivaled scanning speed allows digitizing whole specimen in just a few minutes. Bidirectional communication with third-party middleware or LIMS, and the sophisticated Search Information File (SIF) driven scanning workflow guarantees seamless integration with existing procedures. On-screen analysis of cell patterns is carried out with the help of Metafer's automated image analysis algorithms. Gallery images of results, precise relocation of objects on the slide, and comprehensive data summary guarantee full control over the results.
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cells that have shed into the vasculature or lymphatics from a primary tumor and are carried around the body in the circulation. CTCs thus can be considered as seeds for the subsequent growth of additional tumors (metastases). The clinical relevance of CTC detection lies in the prediction of prognosis and survival, in monitoring therapy efficacy and potential relapse, and also in supervising drug resistances in real time.
There are several known methods for isolation and/or enrichment of CTC from peripheral blood. Even in enriched samples, however, manual detection and analysis of CTCs can take up to several hours, which renders the method inappropriate as a routine test. Metafer with its capability to combine different analysis strategies in a single scan has the power to overcome these limitations. A typical analysis of a CTC sample takes much less than an hour, and can be done considering several different markers applied to the same cell:
The manifold options to gate, sort and revise the population of detected cells facilitate quick check and full traceability of results.
Neon is the brand new system for cytogenetic case and image data organization. Elaborated data management strategies, several convenient display modes, and many options for selecting and filtering content make Neon the perfect basis to organize large quantities of heterogeneous information.
Our partner in Japan, Carl Zeiss Microscopy Co., Ltd (カールツァイスマイクロスコピー株式会社), has published a new Metafer brochure for the Japanese market. Please download the brochure here.
Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) are cancer cells shed from primary or metastatic solid tumors into peripheral blood. Enumeration and characterization of these rare cells holds promise as a non-invasive means of detecting, diagnosing, and monitoring cancers. The Cytelligen SE-i•FISH® kit uses an unbiased approach called subtraction enrichment (SE), which combines non-haemolytic removal of red blood cells and immuno-magnetic removal of white blood cells to enrich for CTCs. The Metafer CTC Application was developed to detect CTCs processed by SE-i•FISH®, and analyze these within a clinically relevant time frame.
With the new camera model CoolCube 4, MetaSystems introduces the first ultra-high resolution camera supported by the Metafer slide scanning platform. Using a 1.1" CMOS chip with a pixel size of only 3.45 μm x 3.45 μm, all CoolCube 4 cameras acquire images with the size of 4,096 x 3,000 pixels.
MetaSystems introduces CoolCube 1, a digital high resolution progressive scan CCD camera combining superior technical features
with an attractive price. CoolCube 1 is available as a monochrome version (CoolCube 1m) or as a Bayer-mask color version (CoolCube
1c).
Neon, a tool for flexible and consistent image and case data management, represents the backbone of MetaSystems workstations. Neon was designed to collect data from different sources and integrate them into an efficient and well structured workflow. Neon reliably manages cases, images, and results of Metafer systems, individual Ikaros and Isis workstations, as well as large multiuser installations. It guarantees that all relevant information is visible whenever and wherever it is needed. Neon's powerful and flexible workflow settings integrates seamlessly with existing routines and can be applied to the complete range of MetaSystems imaging applications.
Because of mosaicism among embryonic cells it is usually required to analyze a relatively high number of amniotic cells in prenatal cytogenetic studies, thus increasing probability that metaphases from all clones are inspected. A common method to overcome this obstacle is the analysis of in-situ slides with various colonies (each representing a single clone). The automated metaphase finder Metafer includes the many tools to help for clone slide analysis.
MetaSystems is pleased to introduce Rapid Scoring (RS), a new method of analyzing FISH signals which combines manual scoring
strategies with the advantages of automated scoring. RS uses MetaCyte to automatically score cell signal patterns. All analyzed
cells are displayed in a gallery. Signal patterns are summarized in a convenient graph and a table. Immediately
after the scan technicians can begin categorizing cells with doubtful results. Categories are assigned to each cell using an
external keypad, and new categories (groups of cells) can be added any time.
Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) are cancer cells shed from primary or metastatic solid tumors into peripheral blood, but these rare cells can also be found in other forms of biofluid such as pleural effusion, ascites, urine, bone marrow and cerebrospinal fluid, where they are commonly referred to as disseminated tumor cells. CTC identification is complex, particularly when multiple markers are introduced simultaneously. The Metafer platform is ideally suited to on-screen review of candidate cells, their morphological properties and individual marker expression levels, allowing clear, reliable confirmation of all CTC types.
In 1986, MetaSystems developed a device named Metafer, which made it possible to automatically detect metaphases in microscopic specimens. In its current form, this metaphase finder is based on the fully motorized ZEISS Axio Imager.Z2 light microscope. It is equipped with a motorized stage, a high-resolution CCD camera, and a state-of-the-art automatic feeder with a capacity of up to 800 slides (SlideFeeder ×80).
The meeting of the German Society of Human Genetics (gfh) was held in Weimar, Germany this week and of course the attendees had the opportunity to visit the joined booth of MetaSystems and MetaSystems Probes. Main topics of the exhibition have been the latest advancements of the Neon case and imaging platform and RapidHyb, the revolutionary fast hybridization times of MetaSystems Probes' FISH probes.
MetaSystems proudly announces the opening of our first subsidiary in the Southern hemisphere. The new office is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina and bears the name MetaSystems Latinoamérica SAS (MetaSystems LatAm). The foundation has been the response to the growing demand on technical knowledge and 'know how' experienced in the last years all over the Latin American territories. MetaSystems LatAm takes care for the organization of sales, support, and customer relation activities in all countries in Latin America. It will manage distributor companies and contacts in the region, and it will facilitate communication between end-users, distributors and headquarters in Germany.
Carl Zeiss Microscopy, longtime partner of MetaSystems, recently published a technical note entitled "Light Microscopy in Clinical Routine Activities. An Overview of ZEISS Axio Imager and Metafer from MetaSystems". The brochure summarizes the history of Metafer and the fruitful partnership with Carl Zeiss and combines both with background knowledge on the many applications Metafer is used for.
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