Visit Definiens at High Content Analysis Show in San Francisco

Definiens’ technology reveals the true value of the ‘content’ in high content imaging.

Contemporary biomedical research is moving from single-target experiments to ‘holistic’ approaches which aim to capture the complexity of events in the cell and even in entire organisms. This makes it possible to elucidate cellular processes and aberrations.

The fully-automated generation of statistical data from images is crucial if high content approaches are to be transformed from isolated bench experiments to commercial screens. Definiens’ technology can be used for the analysis of any high content imaging data, providing an unsurpassed level of detail and accuracy based on the precise segmentation of cells, cell compounds, and other structures of interest.

Definiens provides a freely configurable environment for developing, running, and validating image analysis procedures for any type of assay in 2D or 3D, as well as over time. Extensive multiplexing is supported by the virtually unlimited number of image channels which can be processed. The spectrum of applications ranges from cell-based assays to studies on entire vertebrates like the zebrafish. The spectrum of imaging methods undertaken by Definiens users reaches from classical microscopy to confocal, two-photon, or electron microscopy. When a systems biology approach is followed, the system’s multimodality is essential.

Since Definiens, as one single platform, is able to address the full range of modalities and corresponding image data formats, the system permits the integration of equipment and workflows which typically co-exist in any scientific facility. Using Definiens, standardized readouts are generated in a fully automated manner.

The system is based on a distributed client-server architecture and is therefore fully scalable in terms of throughput. The flexibility of Definiens Developer XD provides unparalleled ease in application development, and also makes it scalable in terms of solution setup. The software accompanies the evolution of biological questions and experiments during a research project, and allows the measurement of all possibly relevant endpoints.

Far beyond the classical standard assays, the system’s versatility facilitates the implementation of complex experimental setups, which could not be addressed on a large scale simply because no automated analysis was available. With Definiens, almost any imaginable biological question can be addressed via an automated solution. This opens the door to completely new scientific approaches.

“Definiens technology gives us the robustness, efficiency, and flexibility to answer the wide range of imaging questions we are confronted with as a core facility.”