The Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center (ADSCC) has announced the installation of a piece of cutting-edge medical equipment that should help scientists reveal new insights into the Covid-19 virus.

 

A specialist healthcare centre that focuses on cell therapy, regenerative medicine and research on stem cells, ADSCC had recently installed Helios Mass Cytometer - a device that can count and classify a sample, cell by cell - at an investment of Dh3.6 million.

 

The Helios cytometer will enable scientists at the center to quickly and accurately profile individual human cells, allowing them to study and monitor a patient’s immune response to the virus, revealing insights about the pandemic from the "patient defense" point of view.

 

The cytometer, the only one of its kind in the Middle East, is a major investment by the ADSCC in its leading-edge capabilities during the fight against COVID-19, said a top official.

 

"With this tool, the ADSCC can study clinical outcomes and changes in inflammatory or immune function from blood samples of Covid-19 patients,’’ an ADSCC spokesperson said. 

 

"This will allow us to address some of the pressing questions that remain unanswered regarding COVID-19.’’ Among the answers, scientists are looking for are what immunologic features and molecular mechanisms are involved in COVID-19 severity, whether those most at risk of severe symptoms can be identified early, what interventions can help reduce the severity of the illness, and what vaccines may prove most effective," he added.

 

The ADSCC recently announced a breakthrough treatment for patients of COVID-19, which appeared to help the body fight the virus and make the disease less harmful. 

 

The treatment involves extracting stem cells from the patient’s own blood and reintroducing them as a nebulizing mist after reactivating them. To date the treatment has had a 100 percent success rate.

 

Staff at the center are currently receiving training on the operation of the new machine, which they have affectionately dubbed ''The Lamborghini''.

 

In another development announced today, ADSCC will begin offering Minimal Residual Disease tests for cancer patients – a first in the UAE. 

 

The highly specialized test allows physicians to spot residual, potentially-resistant cells that can lead to a relapse in patients. Currently such a test is not available in UAE and cancer patients have to travel abroad to be tested because the test requires the use of a fresh sample to be accurate, it added.-TradeArabia News Service