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. 2016 Dec;172(1-3):201-206.
doi: 10.1093/rpd/ncw172. Epub 2016 Jul 13.

THE DECADE OF THE RABiT (2005-15)

G Garty  1 , H C Turner  2 , A Salerno  3   4 , A Bertucci  2 , J Zhang  3   5 , Y Chen  3 , A Dutta  2   6 , P Sharma  2 , D Bian  3 , M Taveras  2 , H Wang  3   7 , A Bhatla  3   8 , A Balajee  2   9 , A W Bigelow  2 , M Repin  2 , O V Lyulko  2 , N Simaan  3   10 , Y L Yao  3 , D J Brenner  2
Affiliations

THE DECADE OF THE RABiT (2005-15)

G Garty et al. Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2016 Dec.

Abstract

The RABiT (Rapid Automated Biodosimetry Tool) is a dedicated Robotic platform for the automation of cytogenetics-based biodosimetry assays. The RABiT was developed to fulfill the critical requirement for triage following a mass radiological or nuclear event. Starting from well-characterized and accepted assays we developed a custom robotic platform to automate them. We present here a brief historical overview of the RABiT program at Columbia University from its inception in 2005 until the RABiT was dismantled at the end of 2015. The main focus of this paper is to demonstrate how the biological assays drove development of the custom robotic systems and in turn new advances in commercial robotic platforms inspired small modifications in the assays to allow replacing customized robotics with 'off the shelf' systems. Currently, a second-generation, RABiT II, system at Columbia University, consisting of a PerkinElmer cell::explorer, was programmed to perform the RABiT assays and is undergoing testing and optimization studies.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The original RABiT assays. (a) Gamma-H2AX foci and DAPI counterstain in 4 Gy irradiated lymphocyte. (b) Micronucleus in binucleate cell (also in 4 Gy irradiated lymphocytes). (c) The concept of operation, gamma-H2AX analysis for all samples arriving within 36 h of irradiation, followed by a quick switchover and CBMN analysis for all subsequent samples.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(a) Layout of the phase 1 RABiT (©2008 IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from (2)). (b) Photo of the phase 2 RABiT.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Chromosome-based assays developed for the RABiT: (a) Dicentrics and (b) mBAND. Detected chromosomes in (a) are circled. Arrows denote the centromeres in dicentric chromosomes. The inset in (b) shows the individual images for the six dyes used to determine the band structure in the indicated chromosome.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Repair kinetics assay. Gamma-H2AX yields are measured at various times following a 4-Gy irradiation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Salerno A., et al. Design considerations for a minimally invasive high-throughput automation system for radiation biodosimetry. In: IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, CASE2007, Scottsdale, AZ (2007).
    1. Garty G., et al. The RABIT: a rapid automated biodosimetry tool for radiological triage. Health Phys. 98(2), 209–217 (2010). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Garty G., et al. The RABiT: A Rapid Automated BIodosimetry Tool for radiological triage II. Technological developments. Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 87(8), 776–790 (2011). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chen Y., et al. Design and Preliminary Validation of a Rapid Automated Biodosimetry Tool for High Througput Radiological Triage. In: Proceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences 3, 61–67 (2009). - PMC - PubMed

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