A tradition of quality for over 145 years

The history of Sakura Finetek dates to 1871, the early Meiji era in Japan. Prior to 1870, the company was known as Iwashiya, and it manufactured and sold pharmaceuticals throughout Japan. The medical equipment division of Iwashiya was formed in 1871, and by 1887, the trademark Sakura (literally, “cherry blossom”) was registered. Since then, the company has been manufacturing a variety of medical equipment including the first Japanese microscope. In 1962, the company name was changed to Sakura Finetechnical Company, Ltd.

Sakura Finetek USA, Inc. was established in the United States in 1986. The company acquired the histology and cytology product lines of Miles, Inc. in 1994. And by 1998, construction of its state-of-the-art research and manufacturing center was added in Torrance, California.

Sakura Finetek continues to lead both the North American and Global markets with products that offer high quality and dependability. Sakura Finetek offers first-in-class automation enabling the production of reproducible, high-quality blocks, and slides for pathological assessment. As we head towards an era of dramatic change in Pathology, the integration of new technologies will be critical.

Sakura Finetek SMART automation workﬂow

When selecting instruments for an automated workflow, productivity, standardization, and reliability are key for a stress-free and efficient working environment. Start benefiting from redesigning and automating routine manual histology processes to leverage the increased productivity of small batch, continuous flow of samples. The path to automation and optimized workflow starts in grossing by selecting the most advanced and fully customizable grossing workstation. For better productivity the identification of specimens requires a fast and versatile Tissue-Tek^® SmartWrite^® Cassette Printer.

Then, you place the specimens into the Tissue-Tek^® Paraform^® Sectionable Cassette System, which enables you to increase specimen safety and eliminate manual embedding steps downstream by loading them onto the Tissue-Tek AutoTEC^® a120. In parallel you want to boost TAT in tissue processing with small, continuous batches of specimens in less than 1 hour for nearly all specimens using the Tissue-Tek Xpress^® x120. With perfectly prepared blocks free of residual paraffin, you are now ready to cut consistent sections and preserve valuable tissue by using the Tissue-Tek AutoSection^® Automated Microtome, the only microtome that features a Paraform preset for safe and automated trimming.

After quickly printing slides on the Tissue-Tek^® SmartWrite^® Slide Printer in up to 8 colors, you can reduce both the staining and drying time by utilizing the fastest integrated stainer-coverslipper system on the market: The Tissue-Tek Prisma^® Plus Automated Slide Stainer linked to a Tissue-Tek Film^® Automated Coverslipper. Partner with Sakura Finetek for advanced automation.

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Sakura Finetek conventional workﬂow

When selecting instruments for a conventional workflow, ease of use and reliability enables a stress-free and productive working environment. This starts in the grossing area choosing a customizable grossing workstation with a comprehensive suite of features. The specimens are placed into one of the Tissue-Tek^® Uni-Cassette^® Systems relying on the unique feature that prevents the premature separation of lid and base during processing. For better productivity, the identification of specimens requires a fast and versatile Tissue-Tek^® SmartWrite^® Cassette Printer. At this point, you can start benefiting from replacing your existing instruments with the two workhorses, the Tissue-Tek VIP 6^® AI for tissue processing of up to 300 cassettes per batch, and the robust and ergonomic Tissue-Tek^® TEC™ 6 for manual bedding.

Now, decide to reduce waiting time by printing slides with a fast Tissue-Tek^® SmartWrite^® Slide Printer in up to 8 colors, and to cut sections with the Accu-Cut^® SRM™ 300 LT Manual Microtome leveraging the innovative illumination of specimen in the blocks. Finally, choose to reduce both staining and drying time by utilizing the fastest integrated stainer-glass coverslipper system on the market, The Tissue-Tek Prisma^® Plus Automated Slide Stainer linked to a Tissue-Tek^® Glas™ g2 Automated Glass Coverslipper staining slides with the Tissue-Tek Prisma^® H&E Stain Kit #1.

View the conventional workflow up close