In 1991, prof. Dr. D. Van Dyck of the University of Antwerp founded the research group 'Vision Lab' in order to establish a center of excellence in image processing at the University of Antwerp. It became an interdisciplinary research group focusing on advanced techniques for pattern recognition and image processing. Participating in several academic (biological, material science), medical (University hospitals), and industrial projects, Vision lab is a valuable partner with expertise and experience in both theoretical and applied subjects in image analysis. Since its foundation, more than ten PhD thesis have been defended, and in 1995, 'Skyscan' - the first Vision lab spin-off company - was founded. This company is now a world leader in desktop X-ray microtomographic systems.
In 2001, taking advantage of the increased need for advanced 'biological' oriented image analysis techniques, a new spin-off company called 'Digital Cell Imaging Labs (DCILabs)' was founded to aid in the development of 'high content' screenings assays for the characterization and analysis of biological samples (e.g. multi well plates of in vitro cell cultures, tissue sections, organ cultures, smears, …). By combining state-of-the-art digital image analysis and the newest biomedical markers and techniques, this company soon was asked to participate in several programs of the pharmaceutical industry and academic world.
Initially DCILabs only developed assays for screenings at the customer's grounds. However, their growing expertise showed that the customers' hardware investment and/or user training could be considerable. DCILabs therefore decided to expand their activities in the form of a service lab. In this model, the assays are implemented at DCILabs' facilities and the samples are screened in-house. The customer only needs to send his samples and receives a report after analysis. Please check out our applications to gain insight in some of our more popular tests. This range is not limited and new tests can always be developed and screenings performed on demand.