Design award for Vision BioSystems

An automated slide loader that can be integrated into fully automated screening systems for cancer cell detection recently won the 2002 Australian Design Award of the Year.

The device, known as the SL50 Automated Slide Loader, won the award after receiving a DesignMark for each of the categories it was entered into - Industrial Design, Engineering Design and Software-Electronic Design.

It was developed by Melbourne based companies Vision BioSystems and Invetech, both subsidiary companies of Vision Systems (ASX: VSL), in collaboration with US-based company Applied Imaging Corporation.

"The SL50 represents a major breakthrough because while there are other automated slide loaders, this is the first one that can be easily integrated into so many different microscopes as well as perform other functions like read barcodes on the slides to identify the patient or sample, provide no slide breakage and efficient performance," said Invetech CEO Paul Wright.

According to Duncan Jones, business development manager at Vision BioSystems, the SL50 is unique in its ability to automatically scan slides. Up to 50 slides can be loaded at a time, and the instrument can be left to run overnight, unattended and at remote locations.

Jones said that while the slide loader was developed for use in Applied Imaging's micrometastatic cancer cell screening system, a wide range of applications are possible and discussions with other companies are underway.

Vision BioSystems is also looking at further development of the instrument, Jones said.