To keep the research at the Hanson Institute at the cutting edge, and to enhance our ability to find new solutions, treatments and therapies, our Laboratories need to upgrade and update their equipment they use.
If you are looking for a different way to support Medical Research, you could consider giving a gift from the equipment wish list below. You can choose a specific item of equipment, or put your gift towards any of the equipment needs.
The Researchers at the Hanson Institute are closely affiliated with the Royal Adelaide Hospital; this strong bond ensures a close alignment of research with the needs to improve medical practice through translational research.
To donate, either click on the equipment image to go to our online donation page, or download and complete an Equipment Donation Form and send it to us at:
Royal Adelaide Hospital Research Fund
Sheridan Building
North Terrace
Adelaide South Australia 5000
Your purchase and donation of any of the following equipment would make a huge impact in allowing research to move forward and assist our researchers to achieve their goals.
FLUOSTAR OMEGA PLATE READER
Required for an ongoing project in the Cancer Therapeutics Laboratory, who are developing promising new anticancer drugs that kill cancer cells at very low doses.
We are generating additional chemical derivatives of these lead compounds and the Fluostar Omega is required to enable high throughput testing.
This instrument will help determine the most effective compounds.
Cost: $47,000
MACSQUANT CELL ANALYSER
This cell analyser enables very sensitive detection and analysis of leukaemia cells in blood.
This cell analyser will allow the Molecular Signalling Laboratory to very sensitively determine the ability of new anti-cancer agents to reduce both total leukaemic burden, and most importantly, eradicate the low abundance, but highly chemotherapeutic-resistant leukaemia initiating cells that are often responsible for patient relapse.
Cost: $130,000
HERAEUS MEGAFUGE 16
The SA Cancer Research Biobank provides a state-wide resource for scientists conducting research into blood cell cancers and disorders. The Biobankcollects blood and bone marrow specimens from consenting patients from the four major public hospitals in SA, including the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
The specimens are processed and stored within a dedicated laboratory located on the RAH campus, for release to researchers investigating the causes, progression and treatment outcomes of cancer.
A centrifuge is required to separate the blood cell components from liquid components.This equipment will benefit a large number of biomedical researchers on campus and facilitate a wide range of research projects in cancer.
Cost: $12,000
LIQUID NITROGEN VESSEL
The long term cryogenic storage of blood and bone marrow cells at the SA Cancer Research Biobank.
Cost: $50,000
SKYSCAN 1272 MICRO-CT SCANNER
Currently, researchers at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the Hanson Institute and collaborative partners require the ability to image tissue specimens in non-destructive way. The Skyscan 1272 Micro-CT scanner is a state-of-the-art machine which would allow us to image and measure the internal features of numerous tissues. It is a high resolution, high throughput scanner which does not damage the specimen. A wide range of applications could use this technology, including oncology (where we would look for tumour development, the effects of drugs on tumours and detection of metastases), cardiovascular research (where we could inject contrast agents to image blood vessels) and musculoskeletal research (where we could image of bone to identify micro-fractures).
Multiple Science disciplines require the need to perform micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) of specimens in order to image and quantify specimens at a sufficiently high resolution as well as allow for high throughput scanning and without destruction of the specimen. Currently, while it is possible to perform micro-CT in the state, there is not the ability to perform adequately high resolution scans that can capture relatively large specimens within the field of view and that can be used by any minimally trained user.
The Skyscan 1272 Micro-CT system can nondestructively visualize virtual slices through objects, using newly developed 16Mp and 11Mp X-ray detectors. Due to phase-contrast enhancement, object details as small as 0.35um can be detected.
Approx Cost: $400,000
The Skyscan 1272 system would be used by many groups, including:
The Tumor Microenvironment Laboratory
DAKO OMNIS AUTOMATED STAINING SYSTEM
The Gastroenterology Research Laboratory, headed by Associate Professor Andrew Ruszkiewicz, investigates gastrointestinal cancer, particularly in bowel cancer and malignancies of the oesophagus, pancreas and stomach.
The research conducted by his group concentrates particularly on early detection and improvement in treatment of bowel cancer which is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in Australia.
The DAKO Omnis enables automationthat ensures a faster turnaround time and delivers consistent quality and optimal results. It delivers a high throughput, including the possibility of overnight runs, plus full traceability of patient cases through onboard and workstation software.
Approx Cost: $180,000
LEICA LASER MICRODISSECTION SYSTEM
The Leica laser microdissection system will enable the Gastroenterology Research Laboratory to deliver contact and contamination-free dissection and specimen collection simply by gravity.
The system guides a laser beam via optics for the highest cutting speed and precision of the laser.
Cost: $364,552
CLEARBRIDGE BIOMEDICS CLEARCELL FX SYSTEM
Enables label-free enrichment of circulating tumour cells from blood
Used by multiple research and diagnostic groups in the Genomics Facility to study biologic and genetic properties of tumour cells circulating in the blood.
Cost: $100,000
BIONANO GENOMICS SAPHYR SYSTEM
Used by research groups to assess genomic structural variation in cancer the Genomics Facility . BioNano Genomics Saphyr System has high resolution single DNA optical mapper for detecting structural rearrangements.
Cost: $300,000
ILLUMINA NOVASEQ 6000 DNA SQUENCER
Used by both research and diagnostic groups to uncover disease causing mutations, and actually detect cancer, leading to personalised therapy for cancer at the ACRF Genomics Facility .
This market leading Next-generation sequencing by synthesis technology capable of sequencing whole genomes, exomes and transcriptomes.
Cost: $1,400,000
10X GENOMICS GEMCODE PLATFORM
Used by both research and diagnostic groups to prepare cancer samples for the sequencers listed above to uncover disease causing structural variants at the ACRF Genomics Facility .
This molecular barcoding platform enables single cell RNA sequencing. Because the platform works with short read sequencers (Illumina), it integrates easily into existing workflows .
Cost: $250,000
nCOUNTER® MAX ANALYSIS SYSTEM
Used by both research and diagnostic groups to measure gene expression, disease causing gene fusions and copy number variation in cancer at the ACRF Genomics Facility .
This is a hybridization based nucleic acid digital molecule counting system .
Cost: $400,000
ROBOSEP CELL SEPARATOR
Used by researhcers using the ACRF Genomics Facility to study biologic and genetic properties of different cell types, which is is particularly useful in cancer studies where tumour cells are mixed with normal cells that can mask their genomic abnormalities and growth characteristics.
The equipment allows purification of different cell types.
Cost: $84,000
TISSUE-TEK VACUUM INFILTRATION PROCESSOR
The roved Tissue-Tek offers the Gastroenterology Research Laboratory a more reliable and simplified operation.
This equipment provides more efficient processing using a redesigned control panel for easy monitoring of the system status and has several preventive functions to protect against unexpected situations.
Approx Cost: $49,000
MULTI-PHOTON MICROSCOPE LASER
This multi-photon microscope laser (the only one of its kind in SA) enables very sensitive detection and analysis of cellular proteins.
This laser will allow the Vascular Biology Laboratory to very sensitively determine the ability of
- new anti-cancer agents to reduce cancer burden and tumour growth (for melanoma and breast cancer),
- new anti-allergy treatments to prevent the development of chronic inflammation
- new vascular devices to overcome the blocked arteries and veins in heart disease.
This laser will also be used by the following laboratories to advance their scientific discoveries for better health outcomes related to Tumour Microenvironment and Molecular Regulation.
Approx Cost: $25,000
FLUIDX CYROPRESERVATION SYSTEM
The FluidX Cryopreservation System is essentially a bar coding system which enables researchers to catalogue the contents of sample tubes that are stored in -80 C freezers. Each tube is bar coded – once scanned using the reader device, a spreadsheet is formed in Microsoft Excel where a description can be given as to the tubes content, origin etc.
Our current system (or lack of), essentially relies on hand writing information on tubes and having the tube contents written in books. FluidX is a clever and cheap solution to determine what is stored in the freezer boxes within the Vascular Biology Laboratory .
Approx Cost: $4,067
