Precision tissue biobanking made easy

Large scale biobanks are essential to meet the world-wide demand for high quality tissues to understand the development and progression of disease, or discover and validate novel biomarkers.

Current biobanking protocols for harvesting and processing tissue are manual and therefore rely on experienced and costly on-site personnel.

Imagine the possibilities of scientific discoveries in personalized diagnostics, prognostics and treatment if high-quality tissues could be made available from several hospitals using streamlined, harmonized and automated biobanking protocols, that would also allow for maximal utilization of this precious material.

In this PoC, we propose a shift from a human centered to a semi- or fully automated tissue harvesting and processing protocol.

Specifically, we propose to develop further, test and validate (from TRL4 to TRL7) an Augmented Reality enhanced and automated Tissue Sampler (ARTS), a technology that is cost-effective, simple to operate, and allows for maximal tissue utilization.

The ARTS prototype was developed within my ongoing ERC StG and already enables sub-samples to be selected from tissue based on invisible features such as diseased and non-diseased cells – one of the general challenges of biobanking today.

In this PoC, we will include comprehensive process monitoring and sample tracking features such as position, temperature and processing time to allow automated sub-sampling while ensuring operator quality assurance with minimal hands-on time. We will also incorporate a tested user-friendly interface ready for industry and a potential spin-off company.

ARTS will allow biobanks to serve customers with specific and high-quality targeted sub-samples which will enhance the value of the material through increased reproducibility, faster processing and more efficient utilization.

In addition, ARTS will relieve financial burden and achieve more long-term sustainability for biobanks, which typically depend on public funding.