Scientists from Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research and the British Columbia Cancer Agency have demonstrated a new instrument that makes it possible to detect and quantify multiple different clinically important proteins in a single tumor sample using conventional staining. Currently, pathologists usually need a separate tissue slice for each protein they want to examine, making it impossible to see how molecules interact within individual cells.

The instrument uses a CRi Nuance(TM) multispectral imaging camera, which captures information from multiple wavelengths in the visible and infrared, an automated microscope, and novel machine learning-based software to extract data from images. The analysis shows which proteins are being expressed and the expression level. Up to 180 tumors from different patients can be analyzed in an hour by a computer using this process. The technology is designed to be used by pathologists to reveal new data that can help researchers develop targeted therapies.

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