TAS::75 0849::TAS SBIR TOPIC 277 - AN AUTOMATED KARYOMETRIC ASSAY TO PREDICT RES

这个SBIR合同项目将是Vala科学公司和亚利桑那癌症中心之间的合作，Vala科学公司是一家总部位于圣地亚哥的小型企业，专门从事定量显微镜分析的开发，亚利桑那癌症中心的研究人员是核测定仪的开发人员，核测定仪非常敏感，但繁琐，在研究中使用的分析技术，用于测试药物的潜力，以预防或逆转妇女患乳腺癌的高风险癌前病变的发展。第一阶段的目标是：1)开发能够正确识别乳腺细针抽吸器数字图像中的细胞核的自动算法；2)确定可以在自动显微镜工作站上使用的合适的显微镜物镜和光学元件，以实现高通量吸吸器图像采集，其中图像质量足够高，可以进行核分析。3)识别可用于制备参考样品的细胞类型，这些参考样品与标准化、测试和潜在改进的核生化分析策略相关。第一阶段的研究将为进一步发展乳腺组织的自动核磁共振分析奠定基础，扩大该技术在研究和临床应用中的潜在用途。

This SBIR contract project will be a collaboration between Vala Sciences Inc, a San Diego-based small business that specializes in the development of quantitative microscopy assays, and the Arizona Cancer Center, whose researchers are the developers of karyometry, an extremely sensitive, but cumbersome, analytical technique which is being utilized in studies testing the potential of drugs to prevent or reverse the development of precancerous lesions in women that are a high risk for breast cancer. The goals of Phase I are to 1) develop automated algorithms for correct recognition of nuclei in digital images of breast fine needle aspirates, 2) to identify appropriate microscope objectives and optical components which can be utilized on an automated microscopy workstation to enable high throughput image acquisition of the aspirates in which the images are of high enough quality to enable karyometric analysis, and 3) to identify cell types that can be used in the preparation of reference samples relevant to the standardizing, testing, and potentially improving karyometry analysis strategies. The research conducted in Phase I will set the stage for further development of automated karyometric analysis of breast tissue, expanding the potential usefulness of technique in research and clinical applications.