Applied Spectral Imaging or ASI is a multinational biomedical company that develops and manufactures microscopy imaging and digital analysis tools for hospitals, service laboratories and research centers. The company provides

cytogenetic Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

, and research laboratories with bright-field,

fluorescence Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...

and

spectral imaging Spectral imaging is imaging that uses multiple bands across the electromagnetic spectrum. While an ordinary camera captures light across three wavelength bands in the visible spectrum, red, green, and blue (RGB), spectral imaging encompasses ...

in clinical applications. Test slides can be scanned, captured, archived, reviewed on the screen, analyzed with computer-assisted algorithms, and reported. ASI system platforms automate the workflow process to reduce human error in the identification and classification of

chromosomal disorders A chromosomal abnormality, chromosomal anomaly, chromosomal aberration, chromosomal mutation, or chromosomal disorder, is a missing, extra, or irregular portion of chromosomal DNA. These can occur in the form of numerical abnormalities, where ther ...

, genome instability, various

oncological Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

malignancies, among other

diseases A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that ar ...

History

Founded in 1993, ASI initially focused on spectral imaging devices for the research community. In 2002, ASI made a strategic move to expand into the clinical cytogenetics market and thereby, introduced its CytoLabView system for

karyotyping A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...

and FISH imaging. In 2005, ASI launched its automated scanning system in order to increase throughput for case analysis, compensating for higher sample volumes and helping laboratories to better cope with a deficit of laboratory technicians and other professions. As the demand increased for more diagnostics, ASI focused on providing faster imaging and analysis to improve turn-around-time for patient results. Scanning automation and algorithms enabled laboratory technologists to spend more time on results and analysis rather than manual labor. In 2011, ASI launched a proprietary software platform named GenASIs. The software automates the diagnostic manual process. Physicians, medical scientists and laboratory technicians integrate digital technology to manage the visualization of the slide and compute the analysis. Through algorithms, tissue, suspension cell and chromosomes are analyzed for aberrations, cell classification, tumor proportion score, etc. ASI's high throughput tray loader, introduced the same year, was manufactured to automate the sample and scanning process. In 2017, ASI introduced PathFusion and HiPath Pro- the company's full pathology imaging suite for H&E, IHC, and FISH visualization and analysis software including tissue matching and whole slide imaging.

FDA Clearances

ASI has a wide

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...

cleared portfolio. Its products and Quality System (QS) are compliant with IVD medical Device Standards and Regulations. * 2001: FDA cleared for BandView product * 2005: FDA cleared for FISHView product * 2007: FDA cleared for SpotScan application for CEP XY * 2010: FDA cleared for SpotScan application for HER2/neu * 2011: FDA cleared for SpotScan application for UroVysion * 2013: FDA cleared for SpotsScan application for ALK * 2015: FDA cleared for HiPath system for IHC family HER2, ER, PR and Ki67

Patents

ASI patents cover methods and instrumentation for general fields in the life sciences. Some of the claims are specific to a special type of hardware, others have a more general scope and refer to the application rather than the instrument. Some of the original patents are related to spectral imaging systems based on interferometry and other spectral imaging instrumentation.

Functionalities

The functionalities that ''Applied Spectral Imaging'' provides laboratories and hospitals include automated slide scanning, applications interface, whole slide imaging, scoring and analysis, sharing capabilities for team review and final sign off, database management, secure archiving of reports, connectivity to the LIS and standardized testing.

Clinical applications

ASI's clinical applications for laboratories include the scoring of chromosome analysis and karyotyping, fluorescent karyotyping, spectral karyotyping, karyotyping of multiple species, scanning and detection of metaphases and interphases, FISH review and analysis, matching of tissue FISH with H&E/ IHC, Brightfield whole slide imaging, IHC quantitative scoring, Cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus, region of interest annotating and measuring, tissue matching and FISH imaging, analysis and documentation of membrane IHC stain, analysis and documentation of nuclear IHC stain, chromosome comparison modules, Whole Slide Image viewing, enhancement and documentation, data case management and network connectivity of multiple systems in a network.

Products

*ASI HiPath Pro - Brightfield imaging analysis system for a variety of

histopathology Histopathology (compound of three Greek words: ''histos'' "tissue", πάθος ''pathos'' "suffering", and -λογία '' -logia'' "study of") refers to the microscopic examination of tissue in order to study the manifestations of disease. Spe ...

needs, including IHC scoring and Whole Slide Imaging of H&E and IHC samples. *ASI PathFusion - Bridges the gap between Brightfield pathology and FISH. Combines Whole Slide Imaging, computational Tissue FISH and digital tissue matching of FISH with Haemotoxylin and Eosin (H&E) or

Immunohistochemistry Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is the most common application of immunostaining. It involves the process of selectively identifying antigens (proteins) in cells of a tissue section by exploiting the principle of antibodies binding specifically to an ...

(IHC) samples. *ASI HiBand - Digital chromosome analysis for counting, indexing and

. *ASI HiFISH - Computational FISH diagnostics for classification, scanning and imaging analysis. *ASI CytoPower - Complete chromosomes' analysis, Karyotyping and FISH cell classification platform. *ASI Rainbow - Analysis & multicolor imaging solution for Fluorescence and Brightfield samples

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Companies based in Carlsbad, California Companies established in 1993 Bioinformatics companies Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Biotechnology companies established in 1993 Biomedical engineering Biological engineering Medical technology companies of the United States Medical imaging