Product News: InSphero to Distribute Dainippon Screen Imager for Rapid Profiling of 3D Microtissues

InSphero AG and Dainippon Screen (Kyoto, Japan) announced that they have reached a distribution agreement for InSphero to begin marketing Dainippon Screen’s Cell3iMager in North America and Europe. Dainippon Screen selected InSphero based on their in-depth know-how pertaining to 3D microtissue biology and applications. The Cell3iMager is fully compatible with InSphero’s GravityTRAP™ 3D microtissue assay platform and other 3D-cell culture plates, providing rapid, robust profiling of microtissue growth and morphology.

3D tumor microtissues or spheroids are increasingly used in drug discovery and development as a more representative biological model for testing drug sensitivity and efficacy. Size and morphology are important determinants to evaluate the biological behaviour of 3D microtissues, particularly in development of anti-cancer drugs, where monitoring cell growth is a particularly critical endpoint. High-throughput, accurate assessment of 3D microtissue size and growth in these applications is currently limited by sequential, time-consuming and often manual optical measurements.

The innovative Cell3iMager’s high-resolution scanning optics provide rapid direct measurement of multiple endpoints, including microtissue diameter, area, pseudo-volume, and circularity at a resolution of up to 9600 dpi. The system can analyze four 96- or 384-well plates in a single run, in as little as one minute per plate, enabling fast and label-free visualization of even small size differences. The scanner software is tailored for the analysis of 3D microtissues, allowing adjustment of parameters such as focal plane, minimum and maximum object size, scan area, and resolution for developing protocols specific to a given tissue type or assay.

The instrument is already broadly used in Japan and is now available in North America and Europe through InSphero’s experienced sales team.

InSphero CEO and co-founder Dr. Jan Lichtenberg sees the agreement as an exciting next step toward making InSphero a total solution provider for the 3D cell culture marketplace. “Adding the Cell3iMager to our portfolio gets us closer to offering our customers a complete set of solutions for 3D cell based assays – from the assay-ready 3D cell model, to assay reagents and instruments for endpoint analysis.”

Mr. Kunihisa Hashimoto, General Manager of Dainippon Screen’s Imaging and Solutions Division, noted the agreement with InSphero is also a major step for Dainippon Screen. “Combining InSphero’s GravityTRAP™ plates and microtissues with the imaging technology of our Cell3iMager is sure to streamline and simplify research using 3D tissue cultures. We are excited to leverage InSphero’s expertise in the 3D marketplace to help bring our innovative imaging system to North America and Europe.”