New partnership creates an automated anatomic pathology slide-scanning solution

Sakura Finetek, a global leader in histopathology products and Evident Scientific, a wholly owned subsidiary of Olympus Corporation, and a global leader in microscopy and imaging solutions, today announced a collaboration to offer a full workflow solution for anatomic pathology slide preparation and high-resolution digital scanning in the Americas.

The collaboration between the companies initially began with a project related to H&E staining characteristics using the special optical configuration options of the VS200 slide scanner. Now, they have formally joined together to offer an automated solution that enables users to generate the high-resolution images needed for digital slide review and image analysis while reducing turnaround time.

The VS200 slide scanner captures high-quality virtual slide images and offers flexibility to empower advanced quantitative image analysis for brain, cancer and stem cell research as well as drug discovery. Simple to use, the VS200 system offers intuitive workflows that enable users to start scanning a slide in as few as two clicks. Efficient and reliable stain assessments are facilitated by its 400x magnification capacity. The VS200 system is also adaptable to meet current needs and expandable for future research requirements. Scientists can see more of their slides in less time with the system’s lineup of flexible features.

Sakura Finetek provides first-in-class automation enabling the production of reproducible high-quality blocks, slides, and digital images. Sakura Finetek customers can now acquire an Olympus SLIDEVIEW™ VS200 digital scanner at the same time they invest in automating their histopathology and immunohistochemistry processes, via reagent rental, leases or capital purchases. This partnership is a major step in Sakura Finetek’s vision of becoming the first company that achieves full pathology automation by providing integrated solutions.

We look forward to this technology enabling us to produce more experiments that demonstrate the benefits and values of this end-to-end automated workflow. Increasing the level of histopathology automation to reduce turnaround time while increasing quality has been a goal of Sakura Finetek since our founding in 1870. Partnering with one of the world’s leading companies in microscopy and imaging will only serve to better reach that goal resulting ultimately in better patient care.”

Patrick Devor, Vice President of Sales, Sakura Finetek USA, Inc

Sakura Finetek’s mission to advance cancer diagnostics by providing innovative and high-quality integrated solutions for anatomic pathology and patients aligns with Evident's mission to help make people’s lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling. This collaboration solidifies our commitment to ensuring histology and pathology labs have solutions, from tissue preparation to digital pathology. It enables our customers to achieve greater slide preparation and scanning efficiencies within an integrated pathology experience.”

Lee Wagstaff, Vice President of Life Science Sales and Marketing, Evident Americas