Company
MetaSystems is an employee-owned German company specializing in automated scanning and image analysis for cytogenetics, cancer genetics and other applications. Founded in 1986 as spin-off from the Institute of Applied Physics at the University of Heidelberg, the company started with the development of an automatic metaphase finding system. MetaSystems is based on over 20 years of experience in chromosome analysis, automated microscopy, and hard- and software technology. This background ensures MetaSystems being at the forefront of technology. A number of innovative features have been introduced by MetaSystems for the first time before they were also adopted by our competitors (e.g. CGH analysis with real-color karyotyping and profile averaging). In early 1997, MetaSystems presented the first commercial software for filter-based 24 color FISH (mFISH) analysis. In March 1998, the unique high resolution multi color banding (mBAND) technique was introduced in cooperation with the Institute of Human Genetics in Jena, Germany.
The first Metafer metaphase finding system was sold and installed in 1987. Since the introduction of the karyotyping system Ikaros in 1991, a product addressing a wider market, MetaSystems grew dynamically and established its position as a leading supplier of cytogenetic imaging solutions. Today, more than 2,500 MetaSystems products are installed in more than 600 laboratories all over the world.
In 2005, MetaSystems opened a branch office in Hong Kong named MetaSystems Asia Co. Ltd. MetaSystems Asia Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of MetaSystems GmbH in Germany. It covers sales, customer support and customized development in Asia/ANZ. MetaSystems Asia Co Ltd also provides research on Asia specific genetics and pathology applications.
