Cell Processor
date: label: date made
content: about 1990
name: label: maker
content: Cytyc Corporation
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: The prototype ThinPrep Cell Processor for preparing cytological specimens, known as the Alpha II, was developed for the preparation and detection of pre-cancerous or cancerous cervical cells. The prototype comprises three parts, the processor, the controller and the tank farm.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Manufactured by Cytyc Corporation in 1990, Alpha II was one of three prototypes used for the first studies of liquid based cytology.
label: Description (Brief)
content: For over eighty years the Pap test or Pap smear, named for the staining technique developed by George Nickolas Papanicolaou, M.D. (1883-1962), has been a part of women’s yearly gynecological exams. The Pap test is used to detect pre-cancerous or cancerous cells. In 1990 a new method of liquid based cytology revolutionized the way cervical cells are examined for abnormalities.
label: Description
content: Entrepreneur Stanley Lapidus established the Cytyc Corp. in 1987, with the aim of developing an improved alternative to the conventional Pap test for detecting cervical cancer. Dean Kamen, inventor and entrepreneur, helped with this endeavor. The ThinPrep Cell Processor, the firm’s first important product, was introduced in 1990. The Cytec Corp. later moved from Boxborough to Marlborough, Ma.
label: Description
content: Ref: Stanley Lapidus, et. al., “Method and Apparatus for Preparing Cells for Examination,” U.S. Patent 5,143,627 (Sept. 1, 1992), assigned to Cytec Corp.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Health & Medicine
content: Women's Health
label: Subject
content: Gynecology
label: Subject
content: Cancer
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
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content: Cancer
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content: Cancer: Diagnosis
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Daniel Lapen
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2012.0029.01.1
label: accession number
content: 2012.0029
label: catalog number
content: 2012.0029.01.1
label: patent number
content: 5143627
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cell processor
label: Object Name
content: thin-prep
label: Object Name
content: motor
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 22 in x 25 in x 14 in; 55.88 cm x 63.5 cm x 35.56 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 22 in x 14 1/4 in x 9 1/4 in; 55.88 cm x 36.195 cm x 23.495 cm