The Principles of Clinical Cytogenetics - Extra Materials - Springer

Automation in the Cytogenetics Laboratory 119
Fig. 6. HYBrite denaturation/hybridization system. Up to 12 slides can be placed in the device, which can be
programmed to heat and cool as required for various FISH protocols. (Courtesy of Vysis, Inc.)
a modest number of slides at one time to facilitate volume testing, and they can store several userdefined
programs for analytical flexibility. (See Fig. 6.)
The drawback to these devices is the large volume or frequent use of probes that require different
programming, necessitating the purchase of more than one unit. They have, however, come down in
price in recent years.
AUTOMATED IMAGING SYSTEMS
Introduction
The traditional method of imaging chromosomes has always been photomicrography. A photograph
of metaphase chromosomes is taken, the film is developed and photographs are printed in a
darkroom, and the chromosomes are cut out and arranged to form a karyotype. Although a standard
technique for a long time, this process increases the already time-consuming nature of clinical cytogenetics.
Because of increasing workload in cytogenetics laboratories around the world, automated
imaging is increasing in popularity.
Automated imaging systems dramatically reduce the time it takes to produce a karyotype, and therefore
can be seen as one of the most important developments in automation of the cytogenetics laboratory.
Furthermore, the growth in fluorescent techniques such as multicolor FISH, interphase FISH, and comparative
genomic hybridization (CGH) can also be attributed to automated imaging. (See Chapter 17.)
Currently, the primary application of an imaging system in a cytogenetics laboratory is still the
production of karyotypes, either from brightfield (G-band) or fluorescence (Q-band or R-band)
images, although the use of automated imaging systems in FISH (painting probes, single-locus probes,
multicolor FISH, CGH, etc.) is rapidly gaining popularity. Rare event detection (e.g., automated