Full 1
About us
Tissuegnostics
Full 1

CREATING THE RIGHT SPIRIT

TissueGnostics is an innovative enterprise on the cutting edge of science and technology our activities are guided by economic principles. We provide our customers with a new generation of imaging and analysis tools for basic and clinical research.

We offer objectivity, quality and innovation and continuously demand it from ourselves. Through const professional development, We maintain top-level scientific standards and competence by constantly reviewing and improving our processes, both scientific and business.

Hallmarks of our work include creativity, commitment and mutual understanding at all levels of operation. We make sure that our staff members enjoy a pleasant working environment that brings out their best performance.

FOCUSING ON PEOPLE

People are the focus of our work, whether they are patients, researchers, customers or staff members. We redefine ourselves constantly by building relationships between people and finding for the requirements of people.

EXCHANGING THOUGHTS

Everyday communication is about people exchanging ideas. We promote sincere communication in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect to further creativity, satisfaction and social competence.

We are closely cooperating with clinicians and research facilities to ensure that our development work will always be customer-oriented. Custom requests and needs expressed by individuals are being incorporated to gear our products for a broad spectrum of challenges.

JOINING FORCES

We are making every effort to promote a sense of community enabling us to act as a team.

Our daily interactions are guided by mutual respect and pervaded by a peer-to-peer spirit. We strongly believe that social competence should not be a hollow phrase. Therefore we practice what we preach.

Our efforts are supported by solid training, continuous professional development, setting targets, and being responsible individuals. We cannot accept poor working conditions.

Leishmaniasis parasite detection in cell culture and tissue: Leishmaniasis APP

Leishmania donovani parasites are the causative agents of zoonotic and anthroponotic visceral leishmaniasis. There is no prophylactic vaccine and available drugs are either expensive and/or show significant toxicity, making the research on leishmania biology essential for a detailed understanding of the dispersal of these obligatory-intracellular parasites and their host phagocytes in the skin [1].

The Leishmaniasis APP within TissueGnostics contextual image analysis software, StrataQuest, was designed to assist in immunology research into Leishmaniasis and can be adapted for research on other intracellular parasites. It can be used both on cell cultures and tissue sections. Its main function is to automatically detect parasite stages in cell compartments and quantify them in context with specific immune markers. In this case study, we will show in detail how simple and straightforward the analysis is.

The aim of this project was to detect how many cells are infected by leishmaniasis and the number of leishmaniasis parasites per cell.

The image below shows a mouse skin-draining lymph node stained with DAPI (nucleus, blue).

 IF_Tumor_Foci_Angio_overview-min.png

Nuclei detection based on DAPI staining is one of the most crucial first steps in image analysis; (a) here nuclei are outlined in green. Starting from this, the software defines the whole cell around the nuclei, outlined in yellow for representation (b); (c) detection of parasites inside the cell as shown here as pink dots; (d) combined masks showing cells in yellow and Leishmaniasis parasites in pink.

IF_Tumor_Foci_Angio_panel-min.png

The obtained data is visualized within StrataQuest using scattergrams. In the example below, (e) cells containing parasites are highlighted in red by selecting them in the proper scattergram (in this case, parasites count vs cell size). The individual cells within an image can be chosen and their exact position in the corresponding scattergram is shown – this is a feature available in StrataQuest called forward connection, especially useful for validation of the selected gates.

IF_Tumor_Foci_Angio_scattergram.png

In the end, all results with many parameters to choose from can be outputted into common file formats (Excel, PDF, CSV) for further statistical analysis.

However, the power of StrataQuest´s App-based streamlined workflow does not end with cell/parasite detection. For further deciphering of Leishmania life cycle aspects and distribution processes, the parasite load and the status of parasite stages, e.g. “live/dead” can also be evaluated to obtain additive information. The IF Dots APP enables the analysis of FISH-stained leishmaniasis parasites.

A recent paper utilizing StrataQuest´s analysis software showed that programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is predictive of clinical response to treatment in patients with leishmaniasis [2]. If you are interested in performing detailed context-based quantitative analysis, explore the potential of StrataQuest and StrataQuest Apps.

 

Sources:

  1. Doehl JSP, Ashwin H, Brown N, Romano A, Carmichael S, Pitchford JW, Kaye PM. Spatial Point Pattern Analysis Identifies Mechanisms Shaping the Skin Parasite Landscape in Leishmania donovani Infection. Front Immunol. 2021 Dec 16;12:795554. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.795554.
  2. Nidhi S. Dey, Paul M. Kaye, Shalindra Ranasinghe. Early reduction in PD-L1 expression predicts faster treatment response in human cutaneous leishmaniasis. October 5, 2021. J Clin Invest. 2021;131(22):e142765. doi.org/10.1172/JCI142765.
  3. TissueGnostics, 2022. White paper. PD-L1 raises new hope in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

HISTORY

TissueGnostics was established in 2003 in Austria after nearly a decade of basic research. The goal was to supply scientists with qualitative and observer independent results for cell and tissue analysis in tissue context and this in automated format and significantly less time. Katja Österreicher, Georg Steiner and Dr. Rupert Ecker, the three co-founders of the company, with the aid of a dozen of development partners (Medical University Vienna, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center New York, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research, Vienna; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle; Brighamand Women`s Hospital, Boston; etc.) succeeded in reaching this target by 2005.

The product launch of TissueFAXS 1.0 was in 2006 and provided tissue imaging and automated identification and functional characterization of single cells in tissue sections. In contrast to morphometry, which provides values referring to the metric dimensions of cells, the term “tissue cytometry” refers to quantification of molecular parameters. Though methodically different, tissue cytometry exhibits a functional similarity to flow cytometry. While flow cytometer is restricted to cells in suspension (e.g. blood) and cannot be applied to solid tissue, tissue cytometry refers to the cytometric analysis (as opposed to morphometric analysis) of histological sections. TissueGnostics has been the first manufacturer of tissue cytometers offering a flow cytometry-like workflow (but applied to tissue sections).

Today in 2022 TissueGnostics is a successfull company with subsidiaries in the EU, the USA and China and with costumers on all continents.
 

Contact

TissueGnostics GmbH
Taborstraße 10/2/8
1020 Vienna, Austria
+43 1 216 11 90
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies).
You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.