In this on-demand webinar from Dover Motion, Chief Technology Officer Kevin McCarthy explains key formulas and considerations for selecting the optimal imaging sensor and microscope objective for digital imaging applications, including sensor size, magnification, microscopy field of view, pixel sizes, resolution, microscope depth of field, and numerical aperture.

Time delay integration (TDI) scanning imaging is a method to increase instrument throughput when imaging a biological sample or flow cell for DNA sequencing. This video illustrates how TDI constant velocity imaging works. When TDI image sensors are used, images are taken on the fly, while the stage/sample moves in a straight line at constant velocity. TDI scanning imaging is time efficient, as the sensor is continuously imaging and reading out, with no wasted time spent moving and settling between separate fields of view.

This white paper addresses high-performance Z-axis focusing for automated microscopy, and recent innovations in this space. Historically, piezo-driven actuators have been used for these applications, but piezo actuators have very distinct limitations. Direct drive linear motor stages provide many advantages when compared to piezo nano-positioners. This whitepaper discusses both approaches to Z-axis focusing motion.

Modern life science and diagnostic instruments are becoming more precise — and the applications more powerful — as the industry continues to incorporate new enabling technologies. High-speed time delay integration (TDI) scanning in a fluorescence microscope cannot be accomplished with dated stepper systems. For field-to-field imaging applications, there is a trend toward higher throughput and more precise motion within instruments.

This white paper from Dover Motion introduces the SmartStage XY high-performance sample positioning stage for automated digital microscopy and compares its mechanical specifications to alternative technologies.

Optimize the performance and cost of your automated optical imaging system with six key equations for selecting an imaging sensor, objective lens, Z-focusing nano-positioning stage, and XY sample positioning motion. Topics covered include optimal imaging sensor size and resolution, objective lens magnification and numerical aperture, and XYZ motion resolution and stability requirements to enable crisp images. Also discussed are how diffraction affects image resolution, and how to calculate the depth of field for a given objective lens.

This white paper from Aptean describes why searches of intellectual property databases for biological sequences — often done during the patent application process or to establish freedom to operate on a sequence — may fail to turn up existing patented sequences.

Biological sequences have become an essential part of life science IP strategies, dependant on having access to complete and accurate information. If you aren't searching a comprehensive database, you may only be seeing ST.25 listings, leading to missing sequences. That missing data could more or less ruin your IP strategy. Check out this whitepaper, where we reveal which patent assignees are notorious for patent applications that don’t strictly follow the ST.25 listings, and how that can become problematic for IP professionals.

This application note from LGC SeraCare demonstrates how to use Seraseq Reproductive Health Reference Materials in pre-implantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A) and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) to compare methods, compare workflows, and train staff.

ctDNA-based assays allow for the detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) earlier than standard clinical and imaging surveillance and could allow for treatment modification based on real-time assessment of the tumor genomic landscape. However, many challenges remain, as the analytical validation of liquid biopsy-based MRD assays requires reference materials allowing for the assessment of sensitivity and specificity at variant allele frequencies (VAFs) that can be over an order of magnitude below the typical limit of detection of standard ctDNA assays. At such low VAFs, there may be, on average, less than one copy of a somatic variant in a sample being analyzed out of billions of ctDNA fragments in a blood draw. This problem is why many MRD approaches use whole-exome sequencing data from patient tumors to design tumor-informed, personalized assays that target multiple patient-specific somatic variants, which reduces the amount of sequencing required to survey MRD while allowing the sequencing depth around the targeted variants to reach a level that is sufficient for high sensitivity and specificity.

This white paper from LGC SeraCare describes the creation of a reference material combining a tumor-derived component with a sufficiently large number of somatic mutations to accommodate the development, validation, and clinical deployment of custom, tumor-informed, ctDNA-based MRD monitoring assays.

This application note from Qiagen describes how geneticists at Çukurova University Hospital, who manage one of the largest databases for rare hereditary diseases in the world, employ QCI Interpret clinical decision support software for variant classification and interpretation to identify genetic mutations for patients at the point of care.

This compendium of application notes from Qiagen describes the benefits and challenges of next-generation sequencing tests for hereditary cancers, as well as opportunities to improve multi-gene panel testing, variant annotation, risk assessment, and reporting of sequencing data with QCI Interpret clinical decision support software.

In this brief video from Qlucore, Thoas Fioretos, professor in clinical genetics at Lund University in Sweden, discusses the benefits of using RNA-seq to diagnose acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALLs), the great majority of which are characterized by gene fusions or display a distinct gene expression signature that can be used for classification.

In this brief video from Qlucore, Thoas Fioretos, professor in clinical genetics at Lund University in Sweden, discusses the major benefits of using RNA-seq in the clinical setting, including patient subtyping and risk stratification, gene expression subtype classification models, and gene fusion analysis.

In this video from Qlucore, Thoas Fioretos, professor in clinical genetics at Lund University in Sweden, answers questions about using RNA-seq in clinical diagnostics, meeting future needs in precision diagnostics, and new in vitro diagnostics regulations. Dr. Fioretos discusses the benefits of using next-generation sequencing, the added value of using whole transcriptome RNA sequencing — such as with novel and known gene fusions and gene expression-based classification — and the trends and future needs in clinical diagnostics.

The GenomOncology (GO) Precision Oncology API Suite extends the knowledge of GenomOncology’s Precision Oncology Platform by integrating directly with in-house systems and workflows, providing users an extensive database of annotations and treatment options that can be utilized to enhance patient care. The GO Precision Oncology API Suite is utilized at numerous institutions across the United States, including the CAP-, ISO 15189-, and CLIA-certified diagnostic lab, ARUP Laboratories (ARUP).

Interested in learning more about how ARUP utilizes GenomOncology’s precision oncology solutions? Then read our latest case study to gain insight into how:

• ARUP selected and implemented the GO Precision Oncology API Suite in 2019 due to the depth of annotation sources within the solution, its overall flexibility, and its ability to be easily integrated into ARUP’s current workflows and processes. 
• ARUP reduced its turnaround time on panel analysis and variant annotation by nearly 30%, enabling its Clinical Variant Scientist team to analyze more cases and spend less time documenting variant classification information. 
• ARUP has chosen to extend its use of the GO Precision Oncology Suite by integrating the GO Clinical Trial and Therapy Matching APIs into its current workflows to strengthen its patient care offerings.

During analysis of drugs of abuse in urine, the drug metabolites (e.g. morphine) can be present as the glucuronide form. In these cases, hydrolysis using a β-glucuronidase enzyme is performed before liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis of the samples to ensure that the free form of the drug can be analyzed in the samples under investigation. Subsequently, the sample requires a cleanup before injection into the LC-MS instrument. Solid-phase extraction remains the most convenient method for use in such sample cleanup.

This white paper from Millipore Sigma demonstrates the ability to perform cleanup of urine samples using HLB solid-phase extraction for the analysis of opioids via tandem mass spectrometry after cleanup with the Supel Swift HLB SPE 96-well plate.