ANN ARBOR – Aquaro Histology announced Thursday it has completed a $9.8 million Series A round led by Telegraph Hills Partners. Aquaro, formerly known as Aquaro Biosystems, will use the money to launch its first product, an Automated Section Mounting used in medical research and development.
Concurrent with the financing, Tom Raffin, M.D.; Deval Lashkari, Ph.D.; and Rob Hart, J.D.—all members of Telegraph Hill Partners—joined Aquaro Histology’s existing Board of Directors, Executive Chairman Jack Ball and CEO Alberto Elli.
Aquaro ASM provides hands-free microtomy in histology laboratories by transferring paraffin-embedded sections from the blade to slides. The system interfaces with existing motorized microtomes, allowing the ASM to be integrated into current histology laboratory workflows.
Aquaro ASM relaxes sections at a user-controlled temperature and time, which yields greater standardization and consistency of sectioning. Sections can be placed on the top, middle, or bottom of the slide, and can be mounted serially or from different levels of the block. As the Aquaria ASM uses circulating filtered water and only one section is floated at a time, the system reduces the risk of cross-contamination and sections being placed on the wrong slide.
By automating section cutting, relaxing, and mounting on slides, the Aquaro ASM reduces the need for constant attention from a histologist. Histologists can focus on less repetitive tasks, or supervise several microtomes at once. Laboratory managers can better allocate resources, and laboratories can benefit from less contamination, increased productivity, and enhanced safety including fewer repetitive motion injuries.
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