Leading the way in tissue sectioning technology

Clarapath was founded in 2014 as a spin-off of Dr. Partha Mitra's research on high-throughput neuroanatomy at Cold Spring Harbor Labs. In order to facilitate whole-brain digital neuroanatomy research, Dr. Mitra was processing hundreds of thousands of tissue samples using the tape-transfer method for high-quality microtomy (cutting tissue into micrometer-thin sections for further analysis). The tape-transfer method was originally developed to facilitate the transport of only frozen tissue sections to glass slides for clinical application of anatomic pathology. Historically, tape-transfer has not been used for paraffin wax tissue processing.
 
Developing a fully automated microtomy system

Based on this experience, Dr. Mitra had the idea to use the tape-transfer method as a foundation to develop a fully automated microtomy system. The device, named SectionStar, takes paraffin tissue blocks as inputs and provides glass slides with sliced tissue as outputs. The device is being developed in close concert with Northwell Health and the Northwell Health Laboratory. SectionStar will be transformative toward improving patient care, decreasing costs, and enhancing the quality and consistency of tissue preparation. The SectionStar further automates the last remaining manual process in histopathology.