Temperature Control System for Automated Cell and Tissue Analysis
Nanohmics has developed a thermoelectric cooler control module capable of individually controlling 40 microscope slides from 4oC to 105oC with an accuracy of +/- 1oC. This project involved the development of custom TEC modules, custom driver and controller circuits, and a heat sink design with integrated sealing. Nanohmics designed and built a custom pulse-width-modulation TEC driver with PID control based on a PIC microcontroller and CPLD. The system developed by Nanohmics is utilized in a commercial Automated Tissue Staining instrument, a high-throughput, automated system than can simultaneously perform Immunohistochemistry, In Situ Hybridization, and special stains. The clinical and research instrument is marketed, manufactured and sold by a major pioneer in the industrial-scale automation of in situ testing of cell and tissue microarrays and provides a total solution for cellular and molecular diagnostics. The company provides complete systems for genome profiling and cellular and molecular analysis of cancer, infectious diseases, and genetic disorders. The company develops technologies that perform analyses useful in drug discovery, life science research, and cellular and molecular diagnostics. This project was launched in Q3 of 2004 and to date Nanohmics has deliver over 35 complete systems.