SafePharm Laboratories Limited (Rat)

Eric Wood manages the testing of the effects of products upon mammalian reproductive systems. Governmental regulations in many countries require semen analysis of certain species, such as the rat, after exposure to test substances. Since 2000, Mr. Wood’s lab has used the Hamilton Thorne TOX IVOS, which fulfills the criteria required by regulatory authorities for sperm motility analysis.

Leading Mr. Wood’s list of advantages of the TOX IVOS is the ability to store images on disk. This feature is important because his lab must archive all data generated from each study for at least five years. Reanalysis of data, if and when necessary, can be done with convenience.

Also important to SafePharm is Rat Metrix, the software program that performs morphometric analysis. “Rather than relying on subjective assessment,” Mr. Wood states, “we get dependable, objective morphology results. And with IDENT® staining, we can do the morphology analysis and the enumeration of homogenization spermatids. All of these analyses are performed using the same analyzer, which makes the Hamilton Thorne system a very flexible machine to use. And if we are required to test other species, we can just order the appropriate software and still use the same analyzer.”