TissueFAXS Q & SL Q Systems
Confocal Tissue Cytometer

TissueFAXS Q & SL Q Systems provide the benefits of both high-throughput of slides and laser-free fast confocal imaging. All TissueFAXS Fluo or PLUS system configurations, irrespective of whether they are upright or inverted, are also available as TissueFAXS Q configurations.

TissueFAXS Q systems are also available in scan only configurations.

CONFIGURATION

TissueFAXS Q system comes in an upright, inverted, PLUS and slide loader (SL) configuration. The most advanced TissueFAXS Q system is the TissueFAXS SL Q+.

The TissueFAXS SL Q+ combines TG´s versatile Spinning Disc Confocal Kit with TissueFAXS SL autoloader capabilities and with TissueQuest/HistoQuest and/or StrataQuest image analysis software.

TissueFAXS Q+ systems also provide all other scanning modes (i.e. brightfield and epifluorescence) of a non-confocal TissueFAXS system.

All epifluorescence TissueFAXS systems (upright and inverse) can be upgraded to TissueFAXS Q configuration at any time.

IHC 2 APP: Ki-67 Nuclear Staining Analysis

The nuclear protein Ki-67 is an established cell proliferation marker in research and clinics. Its staining and evaluation in tissue sections is an integral part of cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Automated quantitative analysis of marker expression can provide a valuable supplement to visual evaluation. The IHC2 App is among the StrataQuest easiest-to-use analysis Apps and requires very little preparation time. This streamlined one-click analysis solution allows single cell detection, including the quantification of one additional marker within brightfield images.

The aim of the following case study was to assess (i) the total number of cells as well as (ii) the number and % of Ki-67 positive cells. (a) shows colon tissue stained for hematoxylin (blue) to detect the nuclei and Ki-67 (brown).

The first step of brightfield analysis is color separation. Using the color separation engine (b), the blue marker is automatically separated from the brown marker, as they are shown in grayscale images below.

The second step is the automatic identification of nuclei based on hematoxylin and Ki-67 staining. Since Ki-67 is located in the nuclei and is also covering the hematoxylin staining there, the nuclei can be detected from both markers. Analysis masks provide visual control of the correctness of the nuclear segmentation – here the nuclei are outlined in green (c).

After setting a cut-off on the intensity of the Ki-67 marker in the corresponding scattergram, Ki-67 positive cells are shown with a red outline (d).

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Backward connection allows to check cells of interest separately on the corresponding scattergram (e), for example, for checking a possible outlier. The scattergram on the example is plotted for mean Ki-67 intensity vs nuclei size. The results can be exported in common CSV or Excel formats.

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Nuclear segmentation, as well as marker detection, is only one of the possibilities of the streamlined analysis solution available for StrataQuest. Get inspired by other analysis solutions in our StrataQuest App Center. Our team would also be glad to develop a personalized solution for you.

TissueFAXS SL Q

The TissueFAXS SL Q is a highly flexible scanning platform, capable of scanning up to 120 slides at a time in brightfield, widefield fluorescence, and confocal fluorescence.

TissueFAXS Q delivers automated whole slide confocal imaging using a confocal spinning disk, paired with a high power LED light engine and the TissueFAXS automated scanning workflow. All TissueFAXS FL or PLUS systems, irrespective of whether they are upright or inverted, are also available in TissueFAXS Q configuration.

Upright configurations of the TissueFAXS Q can be upgraded with a 120 slide loader for high-throughput whole slide confocal imaging. Multiple types of projects - whether they are to be scanned in widefield fluorescence, or confocal fluorescence - can be easily color coded in the slide manager and scanned automatically with customizable scanning templates.