WASHINGTON, DC — SVision last week announced that Nikon has selected its SVCell image-analysis software for its BioStation CT-AS, and that the software package will be sold under the Nikon brand using the name CT Analysis Software SV.
According to SVision, Nikon’s CT Analysis Software SV will be used to quantitatively analyze time-lapse, phase, and fluorescence images acquired on the BioStation CT with the AS Live software module, which the Japanese lens and optics company launched at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting here Dec. 1-5.
William “Ned” Jastromb, BioStation applications manager for Nikon, told CBA News that the resulting BioStation CT-AS platform can be used for many time-lapse image applications, including counting and growing cells, identifying live and dead cells, mitotic index, and fluorescence intensity.
For his part, SVision President James Lee said the Nikon deal “marks our entry into the biotech and pharmaceutical space,” adding that SVision wants to be a part of what he termed a total solution for the users of its software.
To that end, the company’s strategy is to seek partners who can contribute the rest of the system. Customers then have a complete platform that meets all of their needs, of which the SVCell image-analysis software is one component.
SVision has had a long relationship with Nikon, said Jastromb. For instance, the company worked with Nikon to develop applications for the BioStation CT-AS. He said that SVision’s strength is its ability to tailor microscopy imaging applications to a customer’s needs.
Lee said that SVCell has patented learning technologies and teaching interfaces that researchers can use to create “recipes” for automated image analyses.
These so-called “recipes for broad applications” should be a part of the new generation of thinking, Lee said.
Jastromb said that the inclusion of the SVCell image analysis software is part of Nikon’s efforts to diversify its core life-science business, which is manufacturing and marketing microscopes, by incorporating back-end image analysis into its live-cell imaging and monitoring capability.
According to Jastromb, Nikon has placed its first BioStation CT-AS unit in the laboratory of Ronald McKay at the National Institutes of Health.