Quartz Imaging Corporation

Quartz Imaging Corporation Quartz Imaging provides software and systems to microscopy and failure analysis labs. Measuring, annotating, processing, reporting, archiving solutions.

Quartz Imaging has more than 2,000 customers in 36 countries utilizing our industry leading solutions for Digital Image Acquisition and Processing for most image producing instruments including SEMs, TEMs, STEMs, Tabletop SEMs, Cameras, PC Based Instruments, Scanners (PCI Lab and PCI Office); 21 CFR Part 11 Compliance (PCI/CFR); Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS); Failure Analysis La

boratory Information Management Systems (FA-LIMS); Web-based Instrument Booking and Instrument Access Control (Gatekeeper); Instrument Remote Control; Automated Inspection Systems for Nanotechnology; X-ray Microanalysis (EDX/EDS) Systems (XOne and ON-X) and more. Specialties
microscope image acquisition & processing, image measurement, laboratory information management systems (LIMS), x-ray microanalysis (edx/eds), 21 CFR Part 11 compliance for microscopes.

The Imaging Audit Newsletter:A lot of regulated labs know they have imaging compliance gaps. Fewer know the right order ...
06/04/2026

The Imaging Audit Newsletter:

A lot of regulated labs know they have imaging compliance gaps. Fewer know the right order in which to fix them.

Season 2, Issue 1 of The Imaging Audit is now live on LinkedIn, and Issue 1 addresses exactly that: the sequencing mistake that makes compliance remediation harder than it needs to be, and how to avoid it.

The newsletter is free, publishes weekly, and is written for anyone working with microscopy imaging in a regulated pharmaceutical, biotech, or analytical lab environment.

Follow it on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-imaging-audit-7457117211351207936/

Protecting the Strawberry Fields of British Columbia: One Tiny Weevil at a Time.A destructive pest arrived in southweste...
06/03/2026

Protecting the Strawberry Fields of British Columbia: One Tiny Weevil at a Time.

A destructive pest arrived in southwestern British Columbia in 2019.

The strawberry blossom weevil (Anthonomus rubi) cuts flower buds from their stems before they can bloom, causing serious damage to strawberry and other berry crops in the Rosaceae family.

The problem:
It arrived without the natural enemies that keep its populations in check in Europe, its native range.

That is the obstacle growers and researchers are still working to solve.

Jade Sherwood, through the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, took a systematic approach.

Working with collaborators from the EU-based Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), the research surveyed the weevil across 12 European countries to identify parasitoid species that naturally control it.

The result:
12 parasitoid species identified, including seven not previously recorded as being associated with A. rubi.

To document the weevil's morphology with precision, the team used a Hitachi S-2500 scanning electron microscope, with Quartz PCI software handling image acquisition, measurement, and annotation.

SEM images were captured at magnifications of 70x to 110x at 10kV, producing the high-resolution reference data needed to accurately measure and compare specimens across pronotum, rostrum, and tibia structures.

In the introduced range of BC, the research also found that larger strawberry buds produce larger, likely fitter weevils, a finding with direct practical implications for how future biocontrol agents should be reared and deployed.

This is the groundwork that makes targeted, chemical-free pest management possible: protecting the berry crops that farmers and communities in BC depend on.

All rights for the excerpts and images remain with the authors and the full thesis is found here: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0448756
Sherwood, J. (2025).

Native range surveys for natural enemies of Anthonomus rubi and effects of host plant bud size in the introduced range [Master's thesis, University of British Columbia]. UBC cIRcle.

Thank you for mentioning Quartz Imaging in the thesis and congratulations on completing your Master of Science, Jade!

Learn more about Quartz Imaging products at www.quartzimaging.com

What if the key to unlocking cancer immunotherapy was already living inside you?Lung cancer remains the leading cause of...
05/27/2026

What if the key to unlocking cancer immunotherapy was already living inside you?

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Immunotherapy has changed the game, but too many patients still do not respond. Scientists have long suspected gut bacteria play a role. Now, there is evidence of exactly how.

A research team publishing in Nature Communications identified that tiny nano-sized vesicles shed by Bifidobacterium, a common gut commensal, can travel from the intestine, cross tissue barriers, and accumulate directly inside lung tumors.
Once there, they prime tumor cells to express more PD-L1. That makes the cancer more visible, and more vulnerable, to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy.

In mouse models, combining these vesicles with anti-PD-1 significantly reduced tumor growth, increased tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells, and shifted the tumor immune environment toward an anti-cancer state.

To map exactly where and how this was happening inside tumor tissue, the team turned to spatial profiling using the NanoString GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiling instrument, with image analysis supported by Quartz PCI.

The result: a measurable, spatially resolved picture of PD-L1 upregulation and immune cell infiltration across treatment groups.

The gut-lung axis is no longer a hypothesis. It is a potential therapeutic target, and imaging made it visible.

________________________________________
All rights for the excerpts and images remain with the authors and the full article is found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-58553-4
Preet, R., Islam, M.A., Shim, J. et al. Gut commensal Bifidobacterium-derived extracellular vesicles modulate the therapeutic effects of anti-PD-1 in lung cancer. Nature Communications 16, 3500 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58553-4

Thank you for mentioning Quartz Imaging in the paper and congratulations on publishing!

Learn more about Quartz Imaging products at www.quartzimaging.com

Clean water is not a luxury. It is a right. And science is finding new ways to protect it.Synthetic dyes from industrial...
05/20/2026

Clean water is not a luxury. It is a right. And science is finding new ways to protect it.

Synthetic dyes from industrial processes are among the most persistent and harmful contaminants in our water systems.

Conventional treatment methods struggle to break them down.

A research team at the University of Cagliari set out to change that.

They developed nanocomposites using a simple, sustainable ingredient: an extract from the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris.

No hazardous chemicals. No energy-intensive processes.

The result was a photocatalytic material capable of breaking down Congo Red, a toxic industrial dye, using UV light.

To characterize the material at the nanoscale, the team used Quartz PCI to process their SEM micrographs, capturing the hierarchical structure of the nanocomposites with precision.

The findings: up to 49% dye removal in 180 minutes, at a low catalyst loading, with performance that held steady across varying light intensities.

That last point matters. It means the system does not need to be pushed harder to work. It is already operating efficiently.

Cleaner water, greener chemistry, and a more rational use of energy. That is the direction this research points.

All rights for the excerpts and images remain with the authors and the full article is found here: https://doi.org/10.3390/su18094607

Zedda, F., Atzori, F., Casu, S., Sidorowicz, A., Fais, G., Desogus, F., Licheri, R., Porcu, S., Cao, G., Lutzu, G.A., & Concas, A. (2026). Green-Synthesized Ag/Zn Nanocomposites from Chlorella vulgaris Polar Extract: Sustainable Photocatalytic Water Remediation and Kinetic Modeling. Sustainability, 18, 4607.

Thank you for mentioning Quartz Imaging in the paper and congratulations on publishing!

Learn more about Quartz Imaging products at www.quartzimaging.com

Cleaner Water for More People Could Start with Using Less to Make MoreArsenic in drinking water is a global health crisi...
05/14/2026

Cleaner Water for More People Could Start with Using Less to Make More

Arsenic in drinking water is a global health crisis affecting hundreds of millions of people.
Existing filtration membranes can remove it, but they are expensive and material-intensive to produce.
A research team at the University of Girona in Spain set out to change that.

Their approach was to deposit polymer inclusion membranes onto simple porous supports, such as cellulose filter paper and commercial PVDF membrane, using up to 75% less material than conventional methods.

To confirm the membranes were properly formed and structurally sound, the team used scanning electron microscopy with Quartz PCI software to evaluate surface morphology, layer uniformity, and the adhesion between the polymer phase and the porous support.

The results were compelling. The supported membranes achieved 90 to 95% arsenic transport efficiency, comparable to standard membranes, and retained around 70% efficiency after three reuse cycles.
Less material. Equal performance. Reusable.

This is the kind of innovation that makes water purification technology more accessible, more sustainable, and ultimately more equitable for communities that need it most.

All rights for the excerpts and images remain with the authors and the full article is found here: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/16/4/135

Khatir N, Anticó E, Fontàs C. A Novel Supported Polymer Inclusion Membrane Concept for Reagent-Efficient Membrane Design. Membranes. 2026;16(4):135.

Thank you for mentioning Quartz Imaging in the paper and congratulations on publishing!

A 3D scaffold that could change how we grow cells — and one day, how we heal.Traditional cell culture substrates have a ...
05/06/2026

A 3D scaffold that could change how we grow cells — and one day, how we heal.

Traditional cell culture substrates have a fundamental limitation.

They are flat. Rigid. Poor at mimicking the real environment inside the human body.

Researchers at the University of North Dakota set out to change that.

The Obstacle:
Growing vascular cells in a way that reflects how they actually behave in living tissue requires a scaffold with tunable porosity, flexibility, and biocompatibility. Existing materials could not reliably deliver all three.

The Solution:
The team engineered a graphene oxide-based porous 3D mesh, combining graphene oxide with polyethylene glycol and a salt-leaching process to create a scaffold with precisely controllable pore size and mechanical properties. To characterize the mesh structure and analyze the cells cultured within it, the team used a scanning electron microscope paired with Quartz PCI software for imaging and pore size analysis across 500 pores per sample

The Humanity:
When vascular endothelial cells and fibroblasts were cultured on this scaffold, they did not just survive. They organized themselves into structures resembling capillaries, the smallest blood vessels in the body. That is a meaningful step toward building lab environments that could accelerate drug testing, reduce animal trials, and eventually support tissue engineering for human medicine.

A patent granted. A foundation laid.

All rights for the excerpts and images remain with the inventors and assignee. The full patent is found here: https://patents.google.com/patent/US12077776B2/en

US Patent No. 12,077,776 B2 — Zhang, Y., Zhao, J.X., Darland, D. — University of North Dakota. Granted: September 3, 2024.

Congratulations to the inventors on the grant of this patent, and thank you for including Quartz PCI in your work.

Your regulated imaging lab passed its last audit.But here is the question your auditor did not ask:If an inspector reque...
04/29/2026

Your regulated imaging lab passed its last audit.

But here is the question your auditor did not ask:
If an inspector requested the complete, unaltered audit trail for a microscopy image taken 18 months ago, including every version saved, every user who accessed it, and the timestamp of each action, how long would it take you to produce that?
Minutes? Hours? A conversation with IT?

21 CFR Part 11 does not grade on effort.
It requires documented evidence.
Most regulated imaging labs have a process. Fewer have a system.

If that question made you pause, it is worth finding out why.
I have put together a 6-question self-assessment that takes less than five minutes to complete.
It is designed specifically for regulated imaging labs and addresses some of the critical requirements of 21 CFR Part 11

If you would like access to it, send me a direct message to remain anonymous and we will get it to you promptly.

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Understanding How Plants Grow Could Help Us Feed the World.Every crop plant depends on healthy cell division and reprodu...
04/29/2026

Understanding How Plants Grow Could Help Us Feed the World.

Every crop plant depends on healthy cell division and reproduction to thrive.

When those processes go wrong, yields drop, flowers fail, and growth stalls.

Understanding why is one of the most important questions in plant biology.

A research team at the University of Toronto, Scarborough set out to investigate what happens when a gene called HOP2, normally active only during meiosis, becomes overexpressed in the common research plant Arabidopsis.

The results were striking. Plants with elevated HOP2 levels showed stunted growth, misshapen flowers, altered leaf patterns, and severely reduced fertility.

To document the structural defects at the cellular level, the team used scanning electron microscopy with images captured using Quartz PCI.

The SEM micrographs revealed detailed floral organ abnormalities that would have been impossible to characterize with light microscopy alone.

The findings open a new window into how a single gene, when expressed at the wrong time or in the wrong place, can cascade into widespread developmental failure.

That knowledge brings us closer to understanding the genetic switches that govern plant health, resilience, and ultimately, food production.

All rights for the excerpts and images remain with the authors and the full article is found here: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.17.456113

Garrido AN, Francom T, Divan S, Kesserwan M, Daradur J, Riggs CD. Overexpression of HOP2 induces developmental defects and compromises growth in Arabidopsis. bioRxiv. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.17.456113

Thank you for mentioning Quartz Imaging in the paper and congratulations on publishing!

Learn more about Quartz Imaging products at www.quartzimaging.com

A next-generation dental adhesive has matched commercial standards — without Bisphenol A.Dental restorations fail from t...
04/22/2026

A next-generation dental adhesive has matched commercial standards — without Bisphenol A.

Dental restorations fail from the inside out.

Water seeps into the bond, collagen degrades, and the restoration fails before it should.

Researchers at Instituto Universitário Egas Moniz tackled this by replacing Bis-GMA with a novel dendrimer called G-IEMA, creating a BPA-free adhesive built to last longer.

The obstacle: existing universal adhesives attract and retain water at the bonding interface, the primary driver of long-term failure.

The solution: a reformulated adhesive with lower hydrophilicity, tested against two leading commercial products across four adhesive groups and two bonding strategies.

Quartz PCI software was used to analyze silver nitrate pe*******on along the dentin interface, delivering the precise imaging needed to quantify nanoleakage at the microscopic level.

After three months of aging, both experimental adhesives showed significantly less nanoleakage than the commercial alternatives.
Bond strength matched commercial adhesives from day one.

The humanity: restorations that hold longer mean fewer repeat procedures, less chair time, and better long-term outcomes for patients.

All rights for the excerpts and images remain with the authors and the full article is found here: https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14071462

Vasconcelos e Cruz, J., Delgado, A.H.S., Félix, S., Brito, J., Gonçalves, L., & Polido, M. (2022). Improving Properties of an Experimental Universal Adhesive by Adding a Multifunctional Dendrimer (G-IEMA): Bond Strength and Nanoleakage Evaluation. Polymers, 14(7), 1462.

Thank you for mentioning Quartz Imaging in the paper and congratulations on publishing!

Learn more about Quartz Imaging products at www.quartzimaging.com

Unlocking a 20-Million-Year-Old Geological Mystery to Better Understand Our PlanetFor over 30 years, the origin of unusu...
04/15/2026

Unlocking a 20-Million-Year-Old Geological Mystery to Better Understand Our Planet

For over 30 years, the origin of unusual dolomite formations in Kuwait's Al-Subiya sabkha had scientists puzzled.

How does a rare mineral form in sediment with no obvious precursor, in the middle of an ancient coastal mud volcano?
That was the obstacle.

A research team from the University of Toronto set out to investigate a recently discovered early-middle Miocene mud volcano outcrop, combining field sampling with geochemical analysis, electron probe microanalysis, and scanning electron microscopy.
Quartz PCI image management software was used for SEM image acquisition, helping the team capture and document the fine-scale mineral structures at the heart of the mystery.

The findings revealed that dolomite formation was driven by an interconnected set of conditions: hydrocarbon seepage, hypersaline seawater, and the burrowing activity of ancient crustaceans that created channels for methane-rich fluids to mix with the surrounding sediment.

Understanding how and where dolomite forms matter beyond geology.

Dolomite-bearing formations are significant hydrocarbon reservoirs worldwide, and this research adds a critical piece to our understanding of how Earth's subsurface systems work.

All rights for the excerpts and images remain with the authors and the full article is found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-85978-w

Alibrahim, A., Duane, M. J., & Dittrich, M. (2021). Dolomite genesis in bioturbated marine zones of an early-middle Miocene coastal mud volcano outcrop (Kuwait). Scientific Reports, 11, 6636. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85978-w
Thank you for mentioning Quartz Imaging in the paper and congratulations on publishing!

Learn more about Quartz Imaging products at www.quartzimaging.com

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