The launch of the new automatic immunofluorescence microscope EUROPattern Microscope Live is the final step of a development project which was first initiated in 2016 by EUROIMMUN’s founder and former CEO Prof Winfried Stöcker.
He had the idea of a smaller version of the established EUROPattern Microscope, a microscope for computer-aided immunofluorescence diagnostics which is suitable for laboratories with medium and small sample throughput.
In 2017, when the developers presented a first prototype, it became obvious that the microscope would not only be a smaller version of the EUROPattern, but rather set new standards in terms of speed in automated immunofluorescence image recording due to a new laser focus technology
Today, five years later, the microscope is ready. Owing to the lightproof cover, the compact device can be set up in any laboratory space independent of the lighting conditions. Up to five slides with ten fields each can be loaded and automatically processed by the EUROPattern Microscope Live. The instrument requires less than two seconds to take an image is thus six times faster than its big brother (previously the fastest system on the market). The ultra-fast image recording helps to optimise laboratory processes and facilitates the personnel’s work. The recorded images are evaluated by means of the EUROPattern Software, based on deep learning algorithms (deep convolutional neural networks), the immunofluorescence patterns classified, and the antibody titers calculated.
The automated result reporting is enabled for the following substrates (antibodies):
- HEp-2/HEp-20-10 (antinuclear antibodies): 9 patterns (homogeneous, granular, dense fine granular , nucleolar, nuclear dots, centromeres, nuclear membrane, AMA and cytoplasmic) as well as combinations thereof according to the International Consensus on ANA Pattern (ICAP)
- Ethanol and formalin-fixed granulocytes (anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies): cANCA, pANCA, atypical ANCA
- Crithidia luciliae (anti-dsDNA antibodies): positive/negative for fluorescence of the kinetoplasts
- Liver, rat: positive/negative for ANA and anti-LKM-similar patterns
- Kidney, rat: positive/negative for AMA (anti-mitochondrial antibodies) and anti-LKM-similar patterns
Moreover, the high-quality touchscreen allows convenient microscopy due to the multi-touch navigation and two-finger zoom features. This also facilitates joint microscopy by several colleagues.
The connected middleware EUROLabOffice 4.0 gathers all information and data not only from EUROPattern Microscope Live, but also from other workstations and laboratory instruments. Current results as well as previous results from the patient history are clearly displayed on one page. This provides the user a comprehensive view of the patient, improves the efficiency and ensures more reliability in the diagnostic routine.