MetaSystems Company Information

General

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. The first Metafer 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 2,000 MetaSystems products are installed in more than 500 laboratories all over the world.

MetaSystems believes that image analysis for medical diagnostics and life sciences should be done with responsibility. Therefore the development of the products is focussed on quality, and not on quantity, providing individual solutions to our customer.

Located in Altlussheim, some ten kilometers south-west of Heidelberg, in the "BioRegio Rhein-Neckar", MetaSystems participates in the BioRegio initiative funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The Know-How

Founded and managed by persons with strong skills in biomedical imaging, MetaSystems is based on nearly 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. high quality laser printer image hardcopy, 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 a cooperation with the Institute of Human Genetics in Jena.

Marketing and Support

Most of the European countries are supported directly from MetaSystems’ headquarter situated in the vicinity of Heidelberg. In many other countries exclusive marketing partners promote MetaSystems products. For details on our worldwide partners please refer to the page with contact details.

The North American market is covered by the US office (MetaSystems Group Inc.).

In 2005, MetaSystems opened a branch office in Hong Kong, China, named MetaSystems Asia Ltd. MetaSystems Asia Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of MetaSystems GmbH in Germany. It will be covering sales and support issues in the Far Eastern and Southern Pacific regions.