Since purchasing The Vibratome Company in 2000, Coretech has greatly expanded the Vibratome product line family to include five new, more advanced models. We have also added a wide range of accessories and ancillary equipment that vastly increase the products' versatility and range of application. Fully automatic models, for example, enable a researcher to program the number and precise thickness of sections to be cut, greatly increasing the speed and accuracy of the sectioning process. One model includes thermoelectric cooling of the solution that tissue is bathed in during the sectioning process. (Cooling slows down degradation changes, and preserves unfixed tissue better. It also enhances the life span of living cells.)

Coretech's most significant contribution to the vibratory microtome market is its development and introduction of what's called "Zero-Z" technology. This technology limits vertical vibration of a moving blade to less than one micron. This low level of vibration dramatically increases the level of electrical recording possible on a tissue's surface -- a particularly important measurement for researchers in the area of electrophysiology. Coretech is the only company in the world that guarantees this high level of performance.

To complement these technologies, The Vibratrome Company today has a complete line of histology equipment for tissue-sectioning applications, including cryostats, brain matrices and tissue choppers. The company also has extended its reach by providing processing and staining of tissues sectioned on its instruments through an exclusive partnership with Medite, a German equipment manufacturer.

Digital Stereotaxic Instruments
Life science research sometimes involves performing brain surgery and other delicate procedures on small animals. These procedures often require careful positioning of an animal while electrodes and other probes are inserted in very precise locations. To help ensure the integrity of the results, researchers perform these procedures on highly specialized miniature "operating tables" known as stereotaxic instruments.

Historically, stereotaxic instruments have been designed for manual operation, making the placement of probes a very time-consuming and error-prone process. Consider, for example, the intricacies of brain surgery on a small mouse. Working from a single reference point, researchers must calculate multiple insertion points using coordinates on three axes. A probe is then moved from the reference point to various targets, where the location is marked for a hole to be drilled in its skull. Once that is accomplished, the researcher returns the probe to the coordinates and carefully moves it through the hole while reading a vernier scale, being sure to stop when it reaches the desired coordinate. The potential for arithmetic, recording and scale alignment errors during such a procedure are very real.

In the Benchmark™ Digital (Patent Pending), Coretech has created the first digitally operated Stereotaxic Instrument, greatly speeding the laboratory surgical process and reducing the risk of error. The instrument's position-sensing digital scales and remote display center enable researchers to pinpoint coordinates automatically. No calculations, no vernier readings, no writing or alignments are needed. The equipment's digital operation enables surgeries to be completed as much as 25 percent faster, with a dramatic decrease in the potential for errors that can cost researchers thousands of dollars and months of preparation time.

The digital stereotaxic is just one of several enhancements Coretech has introduced to the stereotaxic market based on feedback from neuroscientists. The company, for example, has also re-engineered the equipment's design to enable it to withstand full autoclave treatment for thorough, automated sterilization.

Microforges
When life science researchers need a scalpel or needle smaller than the diameter of a single human cell, they can't just call the stock room and ask for one. The microtools used in microsurgery and other micromanupulative procedures (including invitro fertilization) are typically custom-made by the researchers themselves, using highly specialized equipment called microforges. A typical microforge is comprised of a horizontal microscope combined with a fine adjustment filament, a tool holder, a blower and electric supply equipment.

Since acquiring a microforge business in January 2001, Coretech -- through its GlasswoRx Company business unit -- has introduced multiple improvements in optical, movement and temperature controls, greatly expanding theses devices' versatility and value to researchers.

The company's FinePointTM Series of microforges, for example, come equipped with a heater mounted directly on a high-magnification objective. Because the distance between the work area and the heater is double that found on comparable equipment, the microinstruments being created are better protected from the heat source. These and other features make the company's microforges easier and faster to operate, and ideal for polishing the very small, sub-micron glass-tipped instruments that researchers frequently use to record electrical activity in individual cells.

Another advance introduced by The GlasswoRx Company is a high-resolution color video system that can be used in conjunction with its microforges. The video system provides a more ergonomic approach to microforge use, making it easier to view close-ups of the microtools being created. It is also an excellent training aid.

TurbOflow and Paraplast Histology Disposables
The TurbOflow cassette family is a highly engineered design from the father of cassette system, James B. McCormick, MD, JDs. From years of being an advocate and an innovator of many modern tools for histotechnology, Dr. McCormick has taken his knowledge to design the Ultimate Cassette. TurbOflow cassettes utilize a patented "Fluidic Flow" design for the most efficient and thorough tissue processing on the market today. This Unique Patented design from Dr. McCormick was developed maximize the processing of tissues in today's fast paced laboratories. The problems of under processing, efficiency, and reagent carryover needed to be addressed if the Ulitmate section was to ever be produced. The TurbOflow Fluidic design addresses these needs. Through careful engineering and design the passive movement of fluids is encouraged by fluidic forces created by the lateral turboflow vents and the vertical truncated upper and lower wall surface holes. As fluids move from one concentration to another, a differential of surface tension tends to "percolate" within and through the cassette for maximum exchange. Furthemore, the diffusion of one concentration into the next creates violent surface turbulence that "washes" the tissue specimen for minimal carryover. This can be more visually explained by thinking of the "Tide" effect of washing the tissues like a washing machine agitator. This carefully tested and planned design has no equal on the market today for the Ultimate in tissue processing.

The Paraplast embedding media for histology samples is the market leading product in paraffin embedding media. Paraplast has been a market leader for over 25 years and has been purchased from Tyco Healthcare by McCormick Scientific.