Gaining Competitive Advantage in the Coming Generation of Digital Cell Imaging in Life Science

To gain competitive advantage and dominate the market, understanding the goals of the specific cell imaging application is key. This is a challenge if the application is innovative, and by no means established in the marketplace so that users may have time to express their requirements. Time to market becomes a key issue, since there is an inherent advantage in being a recognized pioneer and leader. It’s a matter of timing to launch a highly competent product, beat your rivals to market and win market share. Additionally, it’s a great advantage to be able to develop generations 2 and 3 of your product efficiently, without having to start from scratch every time.

Microscopy’s evolution over the past decades has transformed the technology. Compound microscopes advanced to electron microscopy, giving us insights that were impossible before, furthering the understanding of biological structures and elucidating complex molecular mechanisms. The digitalization of microscopy together with the advent of antibody-fluorophore technology launched a new era. Empowering scientists and engineers to incorporate microscopy into specific targeted multiplex technologies, digitalization unlocked a vast array of possibilities. Digitalization allows for microscopy to become accessible to a wide range of scientific applications, the integration of customized software analysis, and novel methods of detection and analysis, shifting microscopic research from mere observation at the lab bench to highly targeted, quantitative analysis.

Digital fluorescence and chemiluminescence imaging have empowered Confocal Microscopy, Multiplex Western Blotting, Next Generation Sequencing, High Content Analysis, High Throughput Screening and Live Cell Imaging, amongst many other groundbreaking applications. The next era of applications in cell imaging and detection, from rapid microbial and cancer diagnostics, microtumor analysis to circulating tumor cell DNA detection, will likely become even more specific in its targeting of specific epitopes and DNA and RNA sequences. The dedication of the device to the application and the success of analysis in the hands of any operator will be key to the success of your life science imaging product.

Ultimately, integrated digital microscopy enables long term predictive analytics, offering users the ability to anticipate next steps faster (e.g. when to introduce a drug or probe) and with more precision. These types of applications place great emphasis on maintaining the health and viability of cells, meaning that the vessel (the chamber or incubator) supporting the cells is just as important (if not more important) than the imaging system. Miniaturization of the imaging system affords more flexibility in the device that is keeping the cells alive and healthy.

Vital to the performance of an early cancer test might be efficient, fast, and reliable methods to detect and identify tumor cells in patients. By detecting circulating tumor cells present in the bloodstream, neoplasia can be recognized early. The detection and identification of circulating tumor cells in a patient’s blood sample is an elegant, minimally invasive solution for early, precise cancer detection and diagnosis. However, the first methods to harvest and identify circulating tumor cells required extensive immunologic and analytical expertise and are resource intensive – none of which contribute to consistent and high-volume throughput.

JENOPTIK SYIONS^® integrated digital imaging systems can eliminate the multitude of sample transfer steps required in manual analysis of circulating tumor cells, with the added advantage of precise, accurate, and standardized results that are operator-independent. By placing the miniaturized optical engine in close proximity of the sampling method, a dedicated, automated, high-performance system is within reach.

For many innovative life science companies, their expertise lies in a deep expertise of proprietary biochemistry, cell harvesting, cloning or molecular biology, but not necessarily the design and construction of a go-to-market imaging instrument system. JENOPTIK SYIONS^® magnifies the power of your innovation by offering a platform to efficiently develop an automated workflow, better operator ergonomics, higher reproducibility, higher quality images, a smaller device footprint, flexible instrument design (think of the next generations of instruments), enabling you to efficiently transform your specific application of cell or molecular biological analysis to a miniaturized digital imaging diagnostics instrument in record time.

JENOPTIK SYIONS^® is an acronym for Shaping Your Imaging solutiONS. Its goal is to empower every life science company that requires imaging to bring their technology to market as efficiently and powerfully as possible. Read the next articles in the series to understand the considerations to take into account to design your imaging solution or simply contact us for more information.

About Ute Hofmann

New enabling technologies and methods constantly being researched and developed to ensure better prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases are her daily motivation. Dr. Ute Hofmann joined Jenoptik in 2019 as an experienced product manager for life science and diagnostics with a focus on cellular and molecular applications. She is responsible for Jenoptik’s bioimaging solutions and supports the success of OEM customers at the interfaces of R&D and sales.