High-throughput cell screening has been, and still is, a cornerstone of fast-paced drug-discovery labs, but nowadays speed is not always enough. Content is key, and a Seattle-based startup company has entered the high-throughput cell imaging market with a novel system that could dramatically increase the amount of information available in a given assay.
Amnis' ImageStream™ system combines the throughput of flow cytometry with the imaging power of microscopy to offer fast multispectral imaging of moving cells. The system produces up to six separate images of each cell, including brightfield and darkfield images as well as four fluorescent channels. More than 25 parameters can be obtained for each image, and Amnis claims its system offers the highest amount of information per cell of any technology available. The theme of the technology, says chief technology officer David Basiji, is to "provide the high information content that you get with an image as ...
