Quantitative Digital Image Analysis
Importance of Quantitative Image Analysis
Frequently used in Immunohistochemistry projects for our clients to generate detailed information, at subcellular resolution, regarding distribution and regulation of protein/peptide-based biomarkers (for eg drug targets, pathological process or measures of effect or side effects) in sections from relevant tissues
The pre-clinical phase in drug R&D projects often culminates in studies aimed to evaluate their efficacy on biomarkers for mechanistic mode of action and pathology in cell-based and animal models of the targeted disease state. Conducting such studies in a manner that generate data with the required reliability and sensitivity is of paramount importance for correct stop/go decisions. This is however a challenging task and techniqually flawed studies may easily lead to erroneous decisions regarding the presence and nature of the drug effect, with potentially serious consequences to the project and the company
Our Image Analysis Services
We have extensive experience designing and executing studies that generate data of high reliability, both from our former work as internal support unit within a pharmaceutical company and from studies conducted on behalf of our current clients
We design these studies with careful adherence to principles for stereological sampling of data representing the entire 3D volume of the analysed tissue. This optimizes the ability to detect true group differences with minimized risk of bias. The extent of sampling is scaled, based on data extracted in pilot studies, to meet customer requirements regarding accuracy, precision and sensitivity to detect group dependent differences
We are apt to deal with more demanding studies, where tissues from large numbers of animals are required, via implemented procedures for effective co-processing of tissues, multiplexed and robotics-assisted tissue staining and fast image acquisition with state-of- the-art digital slide scanning
We work with an AI-assisted software package from Visiopharm for image analysis and stereology based analyses as needed to generate strong data in a fast, reliable and reproductive manner. Custom-built algorithm’s are developed to flexibly generate the specific data outputs require by each project.