Automated analysis of contractility in the embryonic stem cell test, a novel approach to assess embryotoxicity.

The embryonic stem cell test (EST) is an ECVAM-validated assay to detect embryotoxicity. The output of the assay is the effect of test compounds on the differentiation of murine-derived embryonic stem cells (D3 cells), recorded by visual analysis of contracting cardiomyocyte-like cells. Incorporation of a system to assess the contractility in an automated manner is proposed, to increase the throughput in the EST independent of observer bias.