Tissue-Tek AutoTEC^® a120

An automated tissue embedding system

The second-generation Tissue-Tek AutoTEC^® a120 remains the industry’s first and only fully automatic tissue embedding system that eliminates the tedious and labor-intensive need to manually orient and embed tissue specimens. Utilizing the Tissue-Tek^® Paraform^® Sectionable Cassette System ensures that the orientation of specimens is locked from grossing to microtomy, thereby eliminating the risk of orientation mistakes and tissue loss for increased patient safety.  This unique embedding automation solution is capable of substantially decreasing errors by up to 44%¹ that commonly occur during manual embedding.

The AutoTEC a120 offers a high throughput of up to 120 Paraform Cassettes/hour and enables histology laboratories to reallocate valuable personnel to other laboratory tasks, and to conveniently level the daily workload in a lean continuous workflow. When used in conjunction with either the Tissue-Tek Xpress^® x120 or x50 Rapid Tissue Processors, these SMART Automation Systems provide high quality and safe tissue processing, consistent clean blocks, improved turnaround time and all-important same-day diagnosis of cancer specimens².

The new enhanced features of this automated embedder include the incorporation of a cassette bar code reader for LIS connectivity and traceability of specimen blocks, and the new SMARTair™ Technology to remove excess paraffin, eliminating the need to clean blocks prior to microtomy. A larger 15-inch touchscreen monitor and the enhanced operating system both deliver improved user convenience. Redesign of the input and output doors, the paraffin reservoir and access to the base molds provides improved ergonomics while requiring minimal user maintenance and further increasing up-time. With its smaller footprint, the AutoTEC a120 can be installed in small histology laboratories, and Sakura’s Tissue-Tek^® iSupport™ program provides remote diagnostics and peace of mind.

Make the move to automated embedding with our automatic tissue embedding system.

¹See NSH 2019 poster presentation “Reducing common embedding errors through automation: Manual embedding versus automated embedding using the Tissue-Tek AutoTEC^® a120 Automated Embedding System and the Tissue-Tek^® Paraform^® Sectionable Cassette System”

²See Cockerell Dermatopathology’s poster presentation titled `Continuous Specimen Flow Changes Night Shifts to Day Shifts While Reducing Turn-Around-Time (TAT)’ from NSH 2015 in Washington, D.C., to see an example of how your laboratory may benefit using continuous, automated embedding.