細(xì)胞生物學(xué)研究，尤其是干細(xì)胞和生育治療研究，是一種數(shù)字游戲。科學(xué)家需要?jiǎng)?chuàng)造、分析、修正甚至放棄一些含有百萬個(gè)細(xì)胞的細(xì)胞組織，來避免研究過程中的瓶頸。

　　Hamilton Thorne公司發(fā)現(xiàn)，激光器在細(xì)胞研究中作用巨大；實(shí)驗(yàn)室用激光源在細(xì)胞研究項(xiàng)目中的應(yīng)用范圍急劇增大。再生醫(yī)學(xué)和生育研究用激光器設(shè)備供應(yīng)商認(rèn)為研究人員已經(jīng)找到了一種實(shí)際有效的方式來利用激光器設(shè)備。

　　Hamilton Thorne首席執(zhí)行官M(fèi)eg Spencer
 

指出，“在生育研究中已經(jīng)使用了一些激光器；但是往往都降低了顯微系統(tǒng)的熒光性。激光器同樣也曾被用于干細(xì)胞研究領(lǐng)域；但是由于激光器的大小和成本，普及還受到限制。而我們通過一種完全不同的方式---減小激光器系統(tǒng)的尺寸并將其直接放置在20倍或者40倍顯微鏡物鏡內(nèi)。據(jù)我們所知，還沒有其他公司這么做過。”

　　切除與創(chuàng)新

　　Hamilton Thorne激光器發(fā)出的波長為1460納米；隨著應(yīng)用的不同，波長會有細(xì)微的變化。這種紅外波長會被細(xì)胞表面的水吸收，進(jìn)而通過激光器有選擇性的切除掉無用的細(xì)胞，或者將一些細(xì)胞放置在特定區(qū)域；這是實(shí)驗(yàn)室研究取得的一項(xiàng)重大進(jìn)步。

　　其他用途則更微妙?？梢酝ㄟ^選擇性的精確控制透明帶（zona pellucida）的移除，來提高IVF程序的成功率。透明帶是圍繞在不成熟卵細(xì)胞周圍的膜；可以通過激光器來有效地形成這些膜。研究人員希望在將干細(xì)胞注入八細(xì)胞胚胎的過程中，使用激光器以將損傷控制到最小。

胚胎注射

　　Spencer指出，“事實(shí)上，這些激光器在細(xì)胞上進(jìn)行微型機(jī)器人顯微手術(shù)。這種基本的操作開辟了多種應(yīng)用，包括克隆、核移植、切除、生殖切除以及預(yù)移植等，都可以通過同樣的基礎(chǔ)激光器系統(tǒng)進(jìn)行。”

　　激光器的多用途使得激光器在高科技生物醫(yī)學(xué)中有巨大的潛在市場；Hamilton
 

Thorne相信在未來五年內(nèi)激光器市場將成為一個(gè)幾十億美元的產(chǎn)業(yè)--其中干細(xì)胞市場將會是主要的增長點(diǎn)。

　　小就是最大優(yōu)點(diǎn)

　　Spencer說道，“干細(xì)胞研究早期使用的激光器系統(tǒng)往往比較大、而且價(jià)格昂貴，所以幾組研究人員都要共用。目前這一領(lǐng)域的經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況允許研究人員使用安裝在各自實(shí)驗(yàn)室內(nèi)的多個(gè)小型激光器系統(tǒng)；這樣一來可以減少成本并避免了污染的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。我們的激光器系統(tǒng)已經(jīng)實(shí)現(xiàn)了這一目標(biāo)。”

LYKOS　系統(tǒng)

　　Hamilton Thorne的顯微鏡物鏡和其一體化激光器源能直接嵌入大多數(shù)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的倒立或正立顯微鏡的鏡頭轉(zhuǎn)臺上。
 

顯微鏡物鏡

　　一些發(fā)射器的設(shè)計(jì)中也包括了小型化技術(shù)；首席技術(shù)官Diarmaid Douglas-Hamilton指出，“我們能自由的選擇符合我們基本要求的二極管；然后對其運(yùn)行方式做出一些改變，以便使其輸出參數(shù)符合我們的需求。”

　　“用戶可以適當(dāng)?shù)乜刂戚敵龉β屎兔}沖寬度，以便使得該激光器系統(tǒng)成為一級設(shè)備。一般的脈沖寬度都低于600微秒，脈沖最大峰值功率低于180&mic#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#ro;J。光點(diǎn)直徑范圍為3至4微米。”

　　在生產(chǎn)中，激光器耦合被鎖定在顯微鏡物鏡的光軸上；一旦達(dá)到了最佳平移對準(zhǔn)和角對準(zhǔn)，而光束質(zhì)量也符合要求，則意味著用戶無需做任何進(jìn)一度的調(diào)整。

公開市場狀況

　　Hamilton Thorne 成立于2011年，并在2008年將其分子診斷部門出售給Thorne Diagnostics。之后的第二年，也就是2009年在多倫多創(chuàng)業(yè)板市場上市。

　　公司最近宣布2011年Q1總銷售量140萬美元，與上年同期相比增長了22%。盡管如此，2011年Q1數(shù)據(jù)顯示，公司凈虧損額為74.6萬美元，比去年Q1虧損額度增長了 31%；而公司的虧損都與其產(chǎn)品開發(fā)有關(guān)。

　　Spencer解釋道，“早期的虧損與我們的分子生物技術(shù)的開發(fā)有關(guān)；這項(xiàng)分子生物技術(shù)現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)接近商品化，并且已經(jīng)成立了單獨(dú)的部門。目前的虧損，部分是因?yàn)殇N售和市場規(guī)?；⒁约皵U(kuò)大基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)來支撐持續(xù)增長的規(guī)劃而引起的。”

　　此次的擴(kuò)張計(jì)劃主要靠2010年下半年公司發(fā)行的125萬美元的債券支持；公司相關(guān)人士指出，發(fā)行此次債券是為了加速新產(chǎn)品的開發(fā)工作。

　　但是還需要更多的投資；Hamilton Thorne下一步需要回歸到公開市場。Spencer指出，“公司擁有許多金融機(jī)構(gòu)投資者和天使投資人，他們都非常支持公司的發(fā)展，從而使得公司的經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況一直非常良好。此外，我們規(guī)劃接下來幾年在公開市場取得更大的突破。”

　　原文如下：

Cell biology research， particularly studies of stem cells and fertility treatments， is a numbers game. Laboratories must create， analyze， modify or discard cell cultures containing perhaps millions of cells as efficiently as possible， to avoid bottlenecks in the workflow.

Lasers could have a major role to play， and the use of laboratory-scale sources in cell research programs is set to expand dramatically， according to Hamilton Thorne. The Beverly， Massachusetts， supplier of laser instruments for regenerative medicine and fertility studies believes it has found the best way to put laser tools into the hands of researchers in a practical and economic manner.

“Some lasers are already used in fertility studies， but usually in ways which reduce the fluorescence capabilities of the microscope systems involved，” says Meg Spencer， CEO of Hamilton Thorne. “Lasers have also been applied in the stem cell field， but the size and expense of the lasers involved have inhibited their penetration. We have taken an entirely different approach， by miniaturizing the laser system and mounting it directly inside a 20x or 40x microscope objective. No other company has done this， to our knowledge.”

Ablation and creation

The Hamilton Thorne sources emit at wavelengths around 1460 nm， with slight variations depending on the exact nature of the application. This infrared wavelength is strongly absorbed by the water present in the cell‘s structural features， allowing the laser to selectively ablate unwanted cells or rapidly score cell cultures to demarcate areas of interest， a key step in practical laboratory work.

Other uses can be more subtle. The chances of a successful IVF procedure are known to be improved by the selective and precisely controlled removal of the zona pellucida， a membrane surrounding an immature egg cell， and a laser is an efficient means to create these localized holes. Similarly， researchers wishing to inject stem cells into early eight-cell embryos can use a laser to allow localized access with minimal damage.

“In effect， the laser carries out miniature robotic microsurgery on cells，” is how Spencer describes it. “That basic operation opens up all sorts of applications in cloning， nuclear transfer， ablation， fertility ablation and pre-implantation， which can all be carried out with the same basic laser system.”

This versatility is expected to equate to a substantial potential market for lasers in advanced cell biology， which Hamilton Thorne believes will become a billion-dollar opportunity within five years - with the stem cell sector likely to be a major growth engine.

Small is beautiful

“The laser systems previously used in stem cell studies have tended to be large， expensive， and shared between teams of researchers，” notes Spencer. “The economics of this field is now driving researchers towards the use of multiple smaller laser systems housed within their own facilities， both to reduce the expense and to avoid any risk of contamination. Our laser systems bring that goal within their reach.”

The Hamilton Thorne microscope objectives and their incorporated laser sources can be screwed into the turret of most standard inverted or upright microscopes. An additional visible beam indicates the target location to the researcher， and they can bring the laser to bear almost as easily as they would change magnification.

Miniaturization has involved some careful emitter design， according to CTO Diarmaid Douglas-Hamilton. “We are free to select almost any diode that suits our basic requirements， but then we make certain changes to the way the source operates to ensure the output parameters match our needs，” he says.

“The power output and pulse length are easily controlled by the user within limits that keep the laser system qualified as a Class 1 device. Typical pulse duration is less than 600 µs， with a maximum energy per pulse of below 180 µJ. The spot size ranges from 3 to 4 µm.”#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

The laser’s alignment is locked to the optical axis of the objective during manufacture， once the optimum translational and angular alignments are achieved and the beam quality is satisfactory – meaning that no further adjustment by the user is required.

Looking to public markets

Originally founded in 2001， Hamilton Thorne went public in 2009 after spinning off its molecular diagnostics unit to Thorne Diagnostics the previous year. It is quoted on Toronto’s TSX Venture exchange， a public venture capital marketplace for emerging companies.

The firm recently announced that total sales increased by 22% year-on-year to $1.4 million for the first quarter of 2011. Nonetheless， that quarter also showed a net loss of $746，000， widening 31% over the same period of the previous year， and the company has historically incurred losses associated with the development of its products.

“Earlier losses related to our development of a molecular biology technology which is now nearing commercialization and has been spun off into a separate entity，” explained Spencer. “The current losses are part of the corporate development plan to scale sales and marketing and expand infrastructure to support continued growth.”

That expansion plan comes off the back of a $1.25 million debentures issue in the second half of 2010， which the company says was designed to accelerate the development of new products.

But more investment is needed， and the next step for Hamilton Thorne is a return to public markets， Spencer says： “The company has major institutional and angel investors who remain extremely supportive， placing the company in a comfortable financial position. However， we do plan a significant raise on the public markets within the next year.”