Universität des Saarlandes

LINKÖPING, Sweden, Feb. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- International medical imaging IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) will provide the University of Saarland with its platform for medical education — Sectra Education Portal. The platform provides real-life clinical cases, which will enhance the educational experiences for radiographer students, as well as elevate self-directed learning and remote studies. By adding Sectra's solution for medical education to their existing Sectra enterprise imaging solution, they are bridging the gap between education and the clinical reality. Saarland University (UdS) is a public research university organized into six faculties covering all major scientific fields. One of these being the Faculty of Medicine, which is located together with Saarland University Hospital (UKS) in Homburg/Saar in Germany. The UKS is responsible for patient care in the region, while the Faculty of Medicine covers the areas of research and teaching. Due to the cooperation between these two institutions and the proximity on one campus, both benefit from each other — research and teaching through the use of anonymized health data and patient care through innovative cutting-edge medicine at the cutting edge of research. The university hospital has been using Sectra's radiology solution since 2016 and will now add a solution for effective education for its medical-technical radiology assistants (MTRA), whose training takes place in a school center at the university hospital. With MTRA students spread across the country, the Sectra Education Portal will facilitate and enhance remote training by giving them access to all the materials they need, regardless of location. The contract for the Sectra Education Portal was signed during the third quarter of Sectra's 2023/2024 fiscal year and will provide them with advanced visualization tools and a multidisciplinary library of real anatomical and clinical cases. This will allow users to study cases that mimic real-life experiences in the diagnosis, treatment planning and monitoring of a wide range of medical conditions. In addition, the cloud-based portal allows users on-demand access to the learning content from their own devices, facilitating self-directed learning. It is also easily scalable and can be used by many users in different faculties. "It makes me so proud and happy to extend our collaboration with the University of Saarland and to be able to enhance education for their radiographer students. Together with them we can ensure an enriched and valuable learning experience for the students regardless of location. Also, with our library of real cases, the students will be better prepared for the upcoming professional environments. This will enhance their capability to rapidly integrate and contribute to the clinical environment," says Johan Carlegrim, President of Sectra's business unit Medical Education. The Sectra Education Portal is a subscription-based Software-as-a-Service solution that provides visualization tools and content at the university, at home or at the hospital. The portal is used by over 60 countries worldwide and includes a large number of anonymized medical cases and images that have been collected in collaboration with Sectra's customers. It comprises anatomy, histopathology, radiology, traumatology, orthopedics, oncology, surgery and other specialties. It also allows the import of own material, which facilitates tailor-made lessons. About Sectra Sectra contributes to a healthier and safer society by assisting health systems throughout the world to enhance the efficiency of care, and authorities and defense forces in Europe to protect society's most sensitive information. The company, founded in 1978, is headquartered in Linköping, Sweden, with direct sales in 19 countries, and distribution partners worldwide. Sales in the 2022/2023 fiscal year totaled SEK 2,351 million. The Sectra share is quoted on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange. For more information, visit Sectra's website. For further information, please contact: Dr. Torbjörn Kronander, President and CEO, Sectra AB, +46 (0) 705 23 52 27 The following files are available for download:

Researchers have discovered a strong immunological effect of the molecule LecB -- and a way to prevent it. Bacteria of the species Pseudomonas aeruginosa are antibiotic-resistant hospital germs that can enter blood, lungs and other tissues through wounds and cause life-threatening infections. In a joint project, researchers from the Universities of Freiburg and Strasbourg in France have discovered a mechanism that likely contributes to the severity of P. aeruginosa infections. At the same time, it could be a target for future treatments. The results were recently appeared in the journal EMBO Reports. Many bacterial species use sugar-binding molecules called lectins to attach to and invade host cells. Lectins can also influence the immune response to bacterial infections. However, these functions have hardly been researched so far. A research consortium led by Prof. Dr. Winfried Römer from the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS -- Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies at the University of Freiburg and Prof. Dr. Christopher G. Mueller from the IBMC -- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology at the CNRS/University of Strasbourg has investigated the effect of the lectin LecB from P. aeruginosa on the immune system. It found that isolated LecB can render immune cells ineffective: The cells are then no longer able to migrate through the body and trigger an immune response. The administration of a substance directed against LecB prevented this effect and led to the immune cells being able to move unhindered again. LecB barricades the path for immune cells As soon as they perceive an infection, cells of the innate immune system migrate to a nearby lymph node, where they activate T and B cells and trigger a targeted immune response. LecB, according to the current study, prevents this migration. "We assume that LecB not only acts on the immune cells themselves in this process, but also has an unexpected effect on the cells lining the inside of the blood and lymph vessels," Römer explains. "When LecB binds to these cells, it triggers extensive changes in them." Indeed, the researchers observed that important structural molecules were relocated to the interior of the cells and degraded. At the same time, the cell skeleton became more rigid. "The cell layer thus becomes an impenetrable barrier for the immune cells," Römer said. An effective agent against LecB Can this effect be prevented? To find out, the researchers tested a specific LecB inhibitor that resembles the sugar building blocks to which LecB otherwise binds. "The inhibitor prevented the changes in the cells, and T-cell activation was possible again," Mueller said, summarizing the promising results of the current study. The inhibitor was developed by Prof. Dr. Alexander Titz, who conducts research at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland and Saarland University. Further studies are needed to determine how clinically relevant the inhibition of the immune system by LecB is to the spread of P. aeruginosa infection and whether the LecB inhibitor has potential for therapeutic application. "The current results provide further evidence that lectins are a useful target for the development of new therapies, especially for antibiotic-resistant pathogens such as P. aeruginosa," the authors conclude.

TOKYO, Jan. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ThinkCyte, a biotechnology company pioneering a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-based cell analysis, characterization, and isolation platform, announced today the appointments of Dr. Diether Recktenwald Ph.D. and Dr. Bo E. H. Saxberg M.D., Ph.D. to its senior Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The appointments complement the strengths of ThinkCyte's existing advisory team and bring deep experiential insights into emerging flow cytometry markets, strategic product development, and clinical applications to ThinkCyte's SAB. Dr. Recktenwald has an expansive career in the development of flow cytometry instruments. He spent over three decades at Becton Dickinson (BD) Biosciences, culminating as Vice President of Advanced Technology where he guided the late-stage development of several novel flow cytometry technologies and product lines. Prior to that, he served as Director of Industrial and Environmental Bioscience at BD, where he was responsible for assessing and developing novel flow cytometric detection methods for emerging markets. Earlier in his career as VP R&D for BD Biosciences Immunocytometry Systems, he led the completion of several new flow cytometry systems, consumables, and accessory lines. He holds B.S and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from Saarland University, earned a Ph.D. in Biology from the Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany, and performed postdoctoral research in cell biology and biophysics at Stanford University. "I was honored to join ThinkCyte's Advisory Board to contribute to their excellent team's approach and vision," said Dr. Recktenwald. "By combining the fluorescence detection capabilities of traditional flow cytometry with a new way of getting morphological detail and data about single cells and applying AI, it unlocks new applications in life science research and beyond. I look forward to working with the extremely accomplished team as a member of the Advisory Board to help bring this vision to reality." Dr. Saxberg has a distinguished career spanning the pharmaceutical, academic, and government research sectors, helping to drive innovations in pharmaceutical and diagnostic therapeutics and related development technologies, including serving as a Founding Investor and subsequently Board Chairman for IntelliCyt, a pioneer in the field of high-throughput flow cytometry. Prior to this he served as Vice President, Corporate Staff, Advanced Communications at Johnson & Johnson and Vice President, New Business Development and Advanced Communications for eJNJ, LLC, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary founded in 2000 to focus on opportunities in digital eHealth. Earlier, he was at Eli Lilly as Director of Information Sciences leading projects at the interface of new technologies and pharmaceutical industry innovation. Dr. Saxberg graduated summa cum laude from the University of Washington, where he received an Honors B.S. degree in Mathematics and an Honors B.S. degree in Chemistry. Dr. Saxberg also earned an Honours B.A./M.A. Cantab. in Physics from Cambridge University in England, an M.D. from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "ThinkCyte's unique morphology-based approach to single cell analysis and sorting is a fundamental advancement in the field and one of the main reasons I am so excited to be joining the Advisory Board," said Dr. Saxberg. "By combining a truly novel means of looking at cells with the power of AI to discover hidden patterns in data, ThinkCyte is enabling an entirely new way to view the relationship between cellular phenotypes and disease." "We are thrilled to have Drs. Recktenwald and Saxberg join our SAB alongside a team of renowned interdisciplinary experts in technology and science," said Janette Phi, Chief Business Officer at ThinkCyte. "Their experience in identifying where novel cytometry technologies can bring value to biomedical research and healthcare markets complements the strengths of our current Advisory Board and will position us well to advance ThinkCyte's vision of bringing a new dimension in cellular analysis to the world." About ThinkCyte Inc. ThinkCyte, founded in 2016 with offices in Tokyo, Japan and San Carlos, California is a biotechnology company that develops innovative scientific instruments based on integrated, multidisciplinary technologies to enable life science research, diagnostics, and therapeutic development. The company pioneered Ghost Cytometry, a proprietary AI-based, label-free cell sorting technology and partners with major global biopharmaceutical companies and leading academic research institutes to further drive pioneering research. For more information, please visit thinkcyte.com. To learn more about research collaborations or other partnering opportunities with ThinkCyte, email [email protected]. Media Contact: Willem Westra, Ph.D. 650-844-8296 [email protected] SOURCE ThinkCyte Inc.