PRODUCT RESEARCH:
New robot detects cell damage

Once the only way to find out if a potential new product could be linked to cancer and other diseases was to expose it to large numbers of rats or other laboratory animals to see if any of them developed genetic damage.

But a robotic system developed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is now available that rapidly scans cell cultures to detect if potential new products could be harmful.

The RPI SHE Machine, developed by Badri Roysam, associate professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering, and Daniel Walczyk, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is faster than animal testing (days instead of months), requires far fewer animals, and correlates strongly with animal tests.

The system performs automatic scoring of the SHE (Syrian Hamster Embryo) Cell Transformation Assay. In this procedure, cells of a hamster embryo are exposed to the substance and cultured in 250 petri dishes. Lab technicians scan these cell colonies looking for abnormalities.

A dozen petri dishes are attached to each of 21 trays in an elevator mechanism. An automatic feeder brings one tray at a time to a scanning mechanism, and a motion stage follows a computer-controlled pattern that places each dish under the scanner. A computer algorithm analyzes the images and uses objective standards to classify and label colonies as normal or abnormal.

The Rensselaer SHE Machine was developed with support from Procter & Gamble and Covance Corp., a division of Corning. Covance, one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive drug development services companies, is scheduled to use the first prototype by the end of summer.

CONTACT: Theresa Bourgeois, (518) 276-2840, bourgt@rpi.edu