Caliper Life Sciences, Inc., a leading provider of tools and services for drug discovery and life sciences research, introduced the IVIS Lumina XR in vivo imaging system, the latest addition to the IVIS product family. The Lumina XR system combines highly sensitive bioluminescence and fluorescence molecular optical imaging with the anatomical precision of digital X-ray. Integrating these three imaging modalities provides researchers with additional capabilities to explore the molecular basis of disease and determine the response to drug therapies.
Caliper’s non-invasive IVIS preclinical molecular optical imaging technology is an innovative research tool that has greatly advanced both basic scientific research as well as the novel breakthrough research necessary to develop safe new drugs. To date, peer-reviewed publications show that IVIS technology has aided the discovery and development of five FDA-approved therapies and more than nine drug compounds in development. The introduction of the Lumina XR system takes this innovation one step further by combining optical fluorescent and bioluminescent images of biological activity with co-registered digital X-ray images, enhancing the anatomical context of the optical molecular signals. For example, with X-ray co-registration the researcher can view a detailed image of the skeleton, or even certain soft tissues, and can use those images as a reference point when using bioluminescence to more precisely locate a tumor or infection site in an animal.
“Caliper’s bioluminescent and fluorescent IVIS imaging systems are well recognized by researchers at top universities and pharmaceutical companies as the leading pre-clinical in vivo imaging solution,” said Kevin Hrusovsky, president and chief executive officer, Caliper Life Sciences. “The demand for advanced preclinical imaging technologies continues to increase, and Caliper is meeting that demand by offering a multimodality solution that will enhance current research applications and further enable newer areas of research, including bone disease and arthritis. We remain committed to providing scientists with valuable tools that translate experimentation into viable clinical options.”
All IVIS systems are optically capable of imaging the full spectrum of fluorescent and bioluminescent reporters and dyes, from green to near-infrared, with quantitative results and high performance spectral unmixing, to extract maximum information from animal models. Lumina XR can incorporate the premium animal handling features of Caliper’s other IVIS imaging systems, such as a heated stage, gas anesthesia connections and a syringe injection system for simultaneous compound administration. In addition to mice, the Lumina XR can accommodate Petri dishes or micro-titer plates for in vitro imaging. And like Caliper’s other IVIS imaging systems, the Lumina XR will serve a broad array of therapeutic areas, including cancer research, infectious disease, inflammation, metabolic disease, neurology, cardiovascular disease, toxicology and other applications.
Filed Under: Drug Discovery