Lonza says cell imaging tech monitors ‘anytime and anywhere’
According to product manager Claudia Schwartz, CytoSMART 2 System - which replaces CytoSMART – enables biopharmaceutical firms to monitor the growth behaviour of cells via images and time-lapse videos, from afar.
“Monitoring cell cultures outside of the laboratory can be done anytime and anywhere, via smart phone, tablet or computer with the integrated cloud functionality,” she told us.
This will also reduce the number of times scientists need to ‘gown up’, she added.
Lonza said CytoSMART 2 allows cells growing in the presence of physiological oxygen to be monitored without removing them from the incubator.
“This means the cells are kept in constant conditions, as it is not necessary to remove them from the incubator to monitor cell growth under a microscope,” Schwartz told us.
Upping the optics
Schwartz said CytoSMART 2 has an advanced optical system and more powerful camera unit than the earlier model, enabling researchers to capture higher-resolution images.
“Images taken can be digitally enlarged two-fold to display more cellular detail for enhanced monitoring of cell cultures, migration assays and differentiation experiments,” she told us.
For the scientists
Whereas CytoSMART employed the cloud to transmit data transfer via wifi, the updated model – which can also be operated offline – can also send information through
LAN transmission, said Schwartz.
Further, the CytoSMART Tablet responsible for controlling the system, can be operated by a new keyboard designed for use in an environment where wearing gloves is mandatory, she said.
“This update was made to better meet the needs of scientists in the laboratory.”
CytoSMART 2 System has been launched to be sold to the academic, biotech and pharmaceutical market.
