Applied Precision to Expand TIRF Capabilities Through a New Patent License Agreement with Yale University

ISSAQUAH, Wash., Dec. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Applied Precision Inc., a GE Healthcare company, is proud to announce that they have licensed new patents from Yale University.  These exclusive technology licenses will allow Applied Precision to integrate enhanced TIRF microscopy into its existing product suite.  The technology is termed "Ring-TIRF microscopy" because it illuminates samples with TIRF as an adjustable ring of light.  This represents a significant improvement over conventional TIRF as it removes interference fringes and allows fast multi-angle illumination to correct for chromatic differences and 3D illumination of the cell cortex, as well as a modality for fast photoactivation or FRAP.

"This is the first major advancement in TIRF microscopy to come about in several years," said Paul Goodwin, Director of Advanced Applications at Applied Precision. 

The prototype instrument was developed at Yale by Dr. Derek Toomre (Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Yale University School of Medicine) and co-inventors Dr. Vladimir Polejaev and Mr. Robert Roorda. The work was supported by a NIH New Innovator award.

"We know the problems and limitation of traditional objective-type TIRFM and our RING-TIRF microscopy overcomes them and allows for quantitative and 3D TIRF imaging," Toomre said. "We are thrilled that Applied Precision and GE Healthcare are commercializing this technology and will put it in the hands of other scientists to let them better see and manipulate cells."

Goodwin adds that, "Ring-TIRF is much more user friendly than conventional TIRF, which will increase the quality of the image and make it much easier for people to use.  The Yale University technology also makes it simple to combine TIRF and photo-kinetic experiments such as FRAP and photo-activation, opening the door to enhanced experiments and more quantitative results."

Applied Precision is currently integrating the Ring-TIRF technology into the DeltaVision OMX V4 super-resolution microscope systems and expects to launch the product in early 2012.

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.

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About Applied Precision, a GE Healthcare Company

Founded in 1986, Applied Precision is a leading provider of innovative imaging, measurement and analysis systems for the life sciences industries and OEM markets.  The acquisition of Applied Precision allows GE Healthcare Life Sciences to expand its offering of products and services for pharmaceutical and life science research.  Applied Precision's proprietary technologies are complementary to GE Healthcare's IN Cell Analyzer Systems which are used for high-throughput sub-cellular analysis in cell biology research. The use of cellular and sub-cellular imaging technology is now central to many areas of cell biology including drug discovery and biomarker research. More information is available at www.appliedprecision.com.

SOURCE Applied Precision, Inc.