Volume 10, Number 1 • January/February 2002 • Small Business/SBIR

Improving Digital Imaging

NASA image-processing techniques provide the foundation for the latest of chromosome analysis and genetic instrumentation. Photo courtesy of Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

A company founded by former NASA engineers to research, develop and manufacture digital imaging technology has now evolved into an independent research and development organization. For 15 years, the business had supplied medical instruments for genetic diagnosis. Now named Advanced Digital Imaging Research (ADIR), the company specializes in digital-imaging software and algorithm development. ADIR is located in the Houston, Texas area, where it conducts R&D projects sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, NASA and other corporate clients.

Originally founded as Perceptive Systems, Inc. (PSI) in 1984 by Dr. Kenneth Castleman, a Jet Propulsion Laboratory digital-imaging expert, and Donald Winkler, a Johnson Space Center (JSC) image-processing expert, the company licensed a patent from JPL for the development of an automated system for chromosome analysis. It supplied advanced microscope-imaging systems used in the diagnosis of inherited diseases.

In 1995, the company was awarded a NASA Phase II SBIR contract to develop an automated microscope to examine the blood of returning astronauts for evidence of genetic damage due to radiation. The instrument could examine astronauts’ blood cells and tabulate the amount of chromosome breakage that had occurred during space flight. This method is a more accurate assessment of radiation exposure than other means, such as film badges, and it permits crewmembers to have extended space flight careers without placing them at risk for cancer.

At the moment, the company is successfully involved in researching medical imaging for a variety of applications in medical research and cancer diagnosis. The applications range from chromosome research in adults, newborns and prenatal babies to leukemia diagnosis systems that monitor the progression and regression of leukemia. ADIR productively performs image-processing algorithm design and software development for many corporate clients. ADIR staff members also serve on several US government and university advisory committees, and as adjunct faculty members. ADIR is a subsidiary of International Remote Imaging Systems, Inc. of Chatsworth, California. Q

For more information, contact Dr. Kenneth R. Castleman, president of Advanced Digital Imaging Research, LLC, 2450 South Shore Blvd., Suite 305, League City, TX 77573, 281/535-1889, info@adires.com. Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

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