Lead partner: Sioux Technologies, NL

The Tissector is an automatic medical device in the field of digital pathology. This device is used in a workflow of molecular tests for personalized cancer diagnosis. The name "Tissector" is a concatenation of "Tissue Dissector", which means that this device is capable of automatically dissect and collect tissue into a laboratory tube. The Tissector is able to handle a broad range of tissue types while being indifferent to variations in laboratory workflows. The Tissector mode of operation is selective: Only the tissue ROIs (regions of interest) which have been selected and annotated by a pathologist are dissected.

The main objectives in IMOCO4.E are to demonstrate:

• The reliability of the operation. The handling of tissue slides, tubes and scraper tools is fully automated by the Tissector. By means of simulation and visualization, the device behaviour is assessed in all life cycle phases.
• The predictability of the performance (accuracy, quality control and cross-contamination prevention) which is of particular importance for the medical intended use of the Tissector device.
• The availability (uptime) of the operation. This is managed using a digital twin. The remaining time before predictive maintenance needs to be scheduled is estimated using AI algorithms.