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The TissueFAXS i PLUS is a high-end inverted fluorescence and brightfield system for the scanning and analysis of slides, cytospins, smears and tissue microarrays. It is the first device of this kind in Chile and the third in South America. |
The acquisition of this modern equipment by the Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) was possible thanks to an approved equipment funding (‘Fondequip’) for a project presented within the ninth Competition for Medium Scientific and Technological Equipment. The author of this project is Dr. Nicolás Ottone, an academic of the Faculty of Dentistry and the Center of Excellence in Morphological and Surgical Studies (CEMyQ). His co-investigators in the Fondequip EQM200228 project called ‘Acquisition of a TissueFAXS i PLUS to potentiate interdisciplinary biomedical research at the Universidad de La Frontera and in the La Araucanía region’ are Dr. Mariano del Sol and Dr. Bélgica Vásquez of CEMyQ and Dr. Raúl Sánchez and Dr. Fabiola Zambrano of the Center of Excellence in Translational Medicine (CEMT). The use of the TissueFAXS i PLUS will allow to develop interdisciplinary research that will be available for professionals of the Universidad de La Frontera, as well as external researchers that require to use it. In addition, the researcher pointed out that “this equipment is capable of adapting a culture chamber and visualizing histomorphological changes in real time, based on the development of immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence analyses in the tissues we are studying. Thus, the potential of this tissue cytometer to perform multiple analyses on the samples analyzed offers the researcher significant benefits with direct impact on the possible findings, which we then can communicate to society.” INAUGURATION The inauguration of the TissueFAXS i PLUS took place at the Center of Excellence in Morphological and Surgical Studies, where the equipment is installed, with participation of the rector Dr. Eduardo Hebel and other university authorities, as well as researchers, graduate students and other international guests. “The acquisition of this equipment, of which we only have three in Latin America – two in Sao Paulo in Brazil and the other one at the Universidad de La Frontera in Chile – will certainly lead to great advances in biomedical research. But also in other fields, since it has an interdisciplinary use, especially in cancer research – cancer is one of the most common causes of death in our country,” Dr. Hebel pointed out. The Vice-rector for Research and Graduate Studies, Dr. Rodrigo Navia, emphasized: “This equipment will allow us to make progress in all areas of the field of bioscience, from projects in basic sciences to projects in even more specialized areas, such as dentistry and medicine. That is also why it is so important. I think it will be extremely useful for our university and it will give us the opportunity to publish in the leading journals, since we will be using this state-of-the-art equipment for our research.” WORKSHOP The TissueFAXS i PLUS was used for the first time at the ‘International Workshop on Tissue Cytometry’, organized by the responsible team of the project and carried out by the Austrian scientists Dr. Felicitas Mungenast and Mike Etrich of the company TissueGnostics, who installed the equipment and taught the researchers how to use it. Professor Henning Ulrich and the researcher Talita Glaser of the Institute of Chemistry of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, where another equipment of this type is located, were also part of the activities. Another purpose of the visit was to strengthen the joint research. In addition, future courses and sessions of training in the use of the TissueFAXS i PLUS are planned within the project Fondequip EQM200228, both online and in person. Written by: Soledad Millapan Sandoval |
