Robot imager evaluates tiny tissue slices

German scientists say a new high-tech imaging center can reproduce and evaluate high resolution images of cells and tissue only micromillimeters thick. The Hamamatsu Tissue Imaging and Analysis Center, or TIGA, at the University of Heidelberg is a cooperative effort between the university and the Japanese company Hamamatsu Photonics.

At TIGA’s core is an imaging robot called "NanoZoomer" that makes it possible for the first time to automatically reproduce and evaluate tissue slices in ultra high resolution and in various planes, the researchers said, noting the achievement is an important aid for scientists in understanding cancer or in following in detail the effect of treatment on cells and tissue. "Technically, this has brought the fully automatic evaluation of tissue changes and approaches for new therapy within our grasp," said Professor Peter Schirmacher, director of the Institute for Pathology at Heidelberg University Hospital. "This would represent a new milestone in pathology."

In the future, the robot is expected to be able to determine changes in cells and tissue fully automatically. "The NanoZoomer represents a quantum leap in tissue research," said Niels Grabe of the Institute for Medical Biometry and Informatics and research director at the TIGA Center.