40.2/ 1,000
Actively detected per 1,000 surgical-pathology cases across the tissue-testing workflow.Detected per 1,000 surgical-pathology cases.
SOURCE ↗Technical error prevalence in the complete pathology tissue testing processPathology tissue-testing study20.5%
More than one in five histology positions were vacant in the 2024 ASCP survey.Over one in five positions vacant.
SOURCE ↗ASCP 2024 Vacancy SurveyASCP 2024 Vacancy Survey21.0%
The share of the histology workforce anticipated to retire within five years.Of the workforce retiring within five years.
SOURCE ↗ASCP 2024 Vacancy SurveyASCP 2024 Vacancy SurveyPathology laboratories face a growing workforce shortage, yet skilled technicians still spend hours manually sorting tissue samples, organizing microscope slides, and loading and unloading laboratory equipment.
ExHist Labs is building AI-powered robotic systems to automate the entire pathology laboratory.
In the demo, a robot arm picks up microscope slides, sorts them into a tray, and loads them into a slide scanner, shown from the side, from overhead, and from a camera on the gripper. Slide sorting and scanner loading are the first workflows we’re developing and validating with our design partner, SeqMatic.
The volume is real: Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center digitizes over 2,400 slides a day, and Odense University Hospital processes and scans 1,600 slides a day. Large labs also organize thousands of slide folders every day, each one sorted and handled by hand.
01 — THE GAP
Today’s labs already have sophisticated machines for processing, embedding, cutting, staining, and scanning tissue. But these machines operate independently, leaving people to manually move samples between them.
This simulation models SeqMatic’s laboratory: a Hamamatsu NanoZoomer S60 scanner, Leica ST5020 autostainer, Leica CV5030 coverslipper, and ovens.
Nori A3 closes the scanner door, then travels to the oven. It opens the oven, retrieves a slide rack with ExHist’s custom gripper, and closes the door.
The robot carries the rack to the autostainer, opens the loading drawer, loads the rack, and rolls away—connecting existing instruments without a manual handoff.
02 — THE SYSTEM
SPECIALIZED ROBOTIC ARMS
Our robotic arms sort tissue blocks and slides into sleeves, racks, trays, folders, and slide boxes for storing, staining, or transport, verifying each sample's identity along the way.
DUAL-ARM MOBILE ROBOTS
Our dual-arm mobile robots carry samples from station to station across the lab, then load and unload the instruments already in place, so nothing waits on a person to move it.
03 — HOW THEY WORK
We combine programmed movements for precision, learning from human demonstrations, and cameras that help robots find and handle samples. Artificial intelligence helps them adapt to different tasks and coordinates the work between machines.
Our systems are designed to work with instruments laboratories already own, including older models.
04 — WHERE WE START
We’re working alongside SeqMatic, a CLIA/CAP-accredited laboratory and our first design partner, to develop and validate these workflows.
FIRST DESIGN PARTNER
CLIA/CAP-accredited laboratory
05 — THE GOAL
Link each instrument in the lab into one continuous workflow.
Remove the repetitive carrying, loading, and unloading between steps.
Fewer touchpoints and less time spent in hazardous environments.
More time for specialized work and quality oversight.
PROGRAM MEMBER
ExHist Labs has joined the NVIDIA Inception program for startups.
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