Cellular thermogenesis, or heat production, reflects an amalgamation of physiological functions, including metabolic activities and blood flow. Telltale differences in thermogenic patterns can result when an organism's physiological status changes for any of a variety of reasons, including disease progression, exposure to toxins, or therapeutic intervention. Now Billerica, Mass.-based Thermogenic Imaging is using a technology, originally designed to let soldiers see in the dark, to develop a technique called Thermal Signature Analysis (TSA), which enables researchers to visualize and quantify these thermal profiles in cultured cells and live animals.
Comparative TSA studies enable the identification of thermal patterns characteristic of certain phenotypes, disease stages, or responses to drugs or other treatments. Using the technology, scientists can perform noninvasive temperature profiling of live animals as well as cultured cells, with no need for fluorophores, radioactive labels, or reporters.
Thermogenic Imaging is confident that TSA technology will facilitate drug discovery and development, ...
