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FIND/Zeiss develop affordable fluorescence microscope
Press release7 November 2007 FIND and Zeiss team up to develop an affordable fluorescence microscope for the diagnosis of TB and other infectious diseasesGeneva, Switzerland and Göttingen, Germany -- The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), a leading public-private partnership dedicated to the development of new diagnostic tools for poverty-related diseases, and Carl Zeiss, a global leader in microscopy, are collaborating to develop a high-performance, durable, fluorescence microscope based on LED technology which will be affordable for high burden countries. Intended for both the public and private non-profit sectors for the detection of tuberculosis (TB) and other infectious diseases, such as malaria and sleeping sickness, the microscope will be based on the new ZEISS Primo Star® platform. "Brightfield microscopy for the detection of acid-fast bacilli, which was developed over a century ago, is still the most commonly used method to detect TB today. Both the laboriousness of routine microscopy and its low sensitivity, especially in the setting of HIV co-infection, limits its utility," said Dr. Giorgio Roscigno, FIND Chief Executive Officer. "In many high-burden countries, TB clinics and microscopy laboratories are overburdened by the increase in the workload that has accompanied the pandemic of TB-HIV co-infection and existing human resources are stretched to the limit. By collaborating with Carl Zeiss, we want to address some of these challenges and be able to offer a more efficient tool for microscopy where it is needed most." According to FIND's Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Mark Perkins, "Compared to brightfield microscopy, fluorescence microscopy for TB offers several advantages, including the ability to use a 40x-objective, which has a greater field of view and speeds slide examination, and the lack of need for heating the slides to fix the stains. Importantly, fluorescence improves detection of TB cases by an average of 10% compared to brightfield microscopy." He noted, however, that these advantages had not impacted TB-high burden countries because of the very limited use of standard fluorescent microscopes, which are expensive and high-maintenance, with sensitive, short-lived high-pressure lamps. It has recently been shown that low-cost, ultra-bright light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which have a long lifespan and are inexpensive to manufacture, could be a good replacement of expensive lamps currently used in fluorescence microscopy. Such LEDs significantly decrease the instrument’s power consumption, allowing battery operation, and more robustness, with an expected minimum lifetime of 10,000 hours versus 200 for a conventional mercury lamp. This feature, plus the ability to use a standard brightfield microscopy platform for manufacture, will substantially reduce the costs of purchase and maintenance and facilitate wider use of this technology. "This specific solution for the diagnosis of tuberculosis is part of our overall strategy to offer LED-based fluorescence solutions to the worldwide markets, both in the field of research as well as in routine clinical applications. And certainly we are proud to make our contribution to the worldwide efforts to fight TB," says Dr. Bernhard Ohnesorge, Vice President & General Manager BioSciences Division of Carl Zeiss. Dr. Thomas Bocher, the responsible Business Unit Manager at Carl Zeiss MicroImaging points out, “Our innovative technical solution will show unique features in this diagnostic market. This in respect to the signal-to-noise ratio, because we use a reflected light illumination setup, and in respect to the convenience of handling, as our product will not expose the user to any dazzling risk. These top features will be provided by Carl Zeiss for a significantly low price, as recommended by and negotiated with FIND. The new product will be available for sale by the next Union Meeting in Paris in October 2008." About TB
About FIND About Carl Zeiss Carl Zeiss MicroImaging GmbH, a 100 % subsidiary of the Carl Zeiss Group, offers microscopy solutions and systems for research, laboratories, routine and industrial applications, as well as spectral sensors for the analysis market. The company develops, produces and markets instruments, software and accessories for microscope systems and associated techniques up to and including special solutions for process analysis. During fiscal year 2005/06 the Microscopy Group at Carl Zeiss generated revenues of approximately EUR 340 million with a global workforce of about 1600. Further information is available at http://www.zeiss.de/micro. FIND © Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics 2008. Click here to see the copyright notice |
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