Definiens Digital Pathology Software Utilized by The Hamner Institutes

Definiens TissueStudio™ and Definiens Developer XD Help Quantify Changes in Apoptosis in the Liver Following Chemical Exposure

Parsippany, New Jersey / Research Triangle Park, North Carolina – May 26, 2010 – Definiens, the number one Enterprise Image Intelligence® company, today announced that The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences is utilizing Definiens image analysis software in a comprehensive liver toxicology study. The Hamner Institutes will utilize Definiens TissueStudio™ and Definiens Developer XD to develop an application that automatically analyzes images of liver tissue slides. The application will identify and quantify apoptotic nuclei in hundreds of whole-slide liver tissue section images, expediting the image analysis process.

“The use of automated image acquisition and analysis technologies greatly expands our ability to identify and quantify low-frequency adverse events resulting from chemical exposure,” said Dr. Russell Thomas, Senior Investigator and Director of Genomic Biology and Bioinformatics at The Hamner Institutes. “We are using Definiens digital pathology software to measure small changes in the background rate of apoptosis. This capability allows us to assess the effects of chemicals at environmentally-relevant doses. Initial studies demonstrated that Definiens’ software delivers highly accurate and reproducible analysis results.”

Staining liver tissues with terminal transferase and biotin-16-dUTP antibodies (TUNEL Fluorescent Staining), researchers at The Hamner Institutes aim to measure changes in the background rate of apoptosis following chemical treatment. The goal of the study, which includes 1680 slide sections from 168 animals and is projected to conclude in the spring of 2011, is to better understand whether changes in the background rate of apoptosis contribute to the tumor-promoting effects of the chemicals studied.

The Hamner Institutes is an independent, nonprofit research and development organization that strives to improve public health through better predictive assessments of chemical and drug safety. Since its founding in 1974, it has developed models and applications to assess the impact of environmental exposures, including toxins, on human health. The Hamner Institutes applies the latest technologies to understand the effects of chemicals and drugs on human health. The addition of Definiens TissueStudio™ and Definiens Developer XD provides The Hamner Institutes with the ability to analyze large numbers of histological and cell-based images to study these chemical effects. Definiens image analysis software was chosen for the study because it provides the flexibility to generate and modify algorithm rule-sets to identify and measure rare occurrences, such as apoptosis in liver tissue sections.

After successfully measuring the background rates of apoptosis in the control animals, the researchers at The Hamner Institutes plan to conduct a pilot study to statistically detect changes in the background apoptosis rate following chemical treatment and, eventually, measure the change in background rates of apoptosis in a full-time course and dose-response study.

“Definiens’ digital pathology software is uniquely suited to the complex challenges of this liver toxicology study,” said Thomas Colarusso, General Manager and Vice President Sales North
America for Definiens Life Sciences division. “Our context-based image analysis technology will enable The Hamner Institutes to automate, identify and quantify biomarkers quickly and efficiently.”

About The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences

The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences is a nonprofit research organization with 35 years of experience in environmental health sciences and chemical risk assessment, and is now leveraging its heritage to perform traditional GLP and R&D small animal studies to evaluate the safety and efficacy of drugs. The Hamner’s two flagship programs, the Program in Chemical Safety Sciences and The Hamner-UNC Institute for Drug Safety Sciences, build upon this expertise to develop and validate cutting-edge tools for safety assessment. Novel technologies include in silico models for predictive toxicology, in vitro models that utilize human cells or cell lines to evaluate perturbations of cellular responses, and in vivo models to elucidate genes that play a role in susceptibility to toxicities. The Hamner continues to grow its campus through partnerships with academia, industry and government and remains dedicated to positively impacting public health.

Definiens in Life Sciences
Definiens supports Life Sciences organizations by automating image analysis on an enterprise level, from drug discovery to diagnostics. Its image analysis software enables pharmaceutical and biomedical companies to interpret vast numbers of digital images accurately and consistently. Definiens applications improve the measurement of cell assays, the examination of tissue samples and the interpretation of non-invasive imaging, helping organizations to advance translational research and personalized medicine.

About Definiens
Definiens is the number one Enterprise Image Intelligence company for analyzing and interpreting images on every scale, from microscopic cell structures to satellite images. The Definiens Cognition Network Technology®, developed by Nobel laureate Prof. Gerd Binnig and his team, is an advanced and robust context-based technology designed to fulfill the image analysis requirements of the Medical, Life and Earth Sciences markets. The technology is modeled on the powerful human cognitive perception processes to extract intelligence from images. Definiens provides organizations with faster image analysis results, allowing deeper insights enabling better business decisions. The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and has offices throughout the United States. Further information is available at: http://www.definiens.com

Definiens, Definiens Cognition Network Technology, Definiens Cellenger, Definiens Tissue Studio, Enterprise Image Intelligence and Understanding Images are trademarks or registered trademarks of Definiens.

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This release was published on openPR.