About the Company
Since 1986 MetaSystems, the mother-company of MetaSystems Probes, has been designing and manufacturing systems for automated microscopic imaging. From the company's conception, the close relationship with the end user has been an essential part of the MetaSystems philosophy; our success over the past three decades has proven this to be a successful strategy. From humble beginnings, MetaSystems has grown into a leading solutions provider while still being connected to our employee-owned, innovation driven, roots.
MetaSystems takes pride in the fact that it has been independent from sponsors and external investors for the entirety of its existence. As a result, we now look back on a history of unrivaled continuity. Our products are subject to constant advancement, and our customers benefit from uninterrupted update and upgrade paths - even for installations completed in the early years of the company's operation.
History
MetaSystems was created as a spin-off of the Institute of Physics at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. In 1986, the company's first product was the Metafer slide scanning platform, a metaphase finding system. With the introduction of the karyotyping system, Ikaros, in 1991, a product addressing a wider market, MetaSystems was able to grow dynamically and establish its position as a leading supplier of automated imaging solutions. Also in 1991, the Isis FISH imaging system was launched, and later complemented with software upgrades for telomere analysis (1993) and comparative genomic hybridization analysis (1994).
In early 1997, MetaSystems presented the first commercial software for filter-based 24 color FISH (mFISH) analysis. A DNA probe kit department was established shortly thereafter. In March 1998, the unique high resolution multi-color banding (mBAND) technique was introduced.
With growing demand for automated cell screening, the metaphase finder, Metafer, was further developed to become a multipurpose slide scanning platform. With the introduction of a system to analyze FISH signals in nuclei (2000), a second major software module for Metafer was established. The software started as a spot counter, and today is a multi-parametric cell feature analysis system. From then on, Metafer has been denominated as a slide scanning platform.
As a third member of the Metafer family, a rare cell detection system was added. Several additional products enhancing the workflow in imaging automation were released in the early new century, including the SlideFeeder and software for automated image acquisition (both 2002).
In 2009 - 2010, MetaSystems decided to apply its knowledge in automated slide scanning to a new market and launched a system for automated virtual slide imaging. Based on the Metafer slide scanning platform, the system provides all the flexibility and performance which characterizes this device.
Meanwhile, MetaSystems extended its probe kit portfolio to include whole chromosome painting kits (XCP), mouse and rat mFISH kits (21XMouse and 22XRat), and many more. In early 2009, MetaSystems introduced a new series of locus-specific probe kits (XL) for use in hematology.
In the last several years, major changes have improved and diversified the MetaSystems portfolio, and the company itself. The growing demand for probes led to the founding of MetaSystems Probes, an affiliated organization handling the complete probes business (2015/2016).
MetaSystems Probes Today
Founded and managed by individuals with strong skills in biomedical imaging, MetaSystems and MetaSystems Probes are based on 30 years of experience in image analysis, automated microscopy, and hard- and software technology. MetaSystems Probes takes pride in having established a widespread, innovative, and growing product portfolio. However, an integral and equally important outcome of the company's activities is the implementation of global business strategies with a human approach. This unique attitude, which may be referred to as the “MetaSystems Spirit,” has been instrumental in achieving the highest product quality and customer satisfaction.
MetaSystems Probes believes that a global company should foster a community of partners, users, and customers to achieve a climate of collaboration and friendship. Therefore, customer service, training of MetaSystems Probes experts all over the world, and direct communication, are central parts of the MetaSystems philosophy. As a result of this attitude, our partners throughout the world consider themselves members of the global MetaSystems family.
Today, most European countries are supported directly from MetaSystems Probes headquarters, situated in the vicinity of Heidelberg, Germany. The North American market is covered by the US office (MetaSystems Group Inc.) located in Boston, MA. In 2004, MetaSystems opened a branch office in Hong Kong, China, named MetaSystems Asia Co. Ltd. MetaSystems Asia provides technical and sales support to the Far Eastern and Southern Pacific regions.
MetaSystems India Pvt. Ltd. was established in May 2012 with the aim to establish better service for the very important market of India. In May 2014 MetaSystems set up MetaSystems S.r.l., an office in Milano, Italia (MetaSystems Italy). In many other countries, MetaSystems Probes is very proud to have strong, exclusive partners taking care of the local probes sales, and supporting our customers in their region. For details on our worldwide partners, please refer to the contact page.
