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December 2024
The global tissue clearing market size is calculated at USD 122.98 million in 2024, grew to USD 134.38 million in 2025, and is projected to reach around USD 298.43 million by 2034. The market is expanding at a CAGR of 9.27% between 2024 and 2034. The growing biological research and development activities, rising incidences of chronic disorders, and technological advancements drive the market.
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Tissue clearing is a technique for reducing the opacity of biological tissues and making tissue samples transparent. This technique minimizes light scattering and absorption, enabling better light penetration during microscopy. Tissue clearing is done with chemical solutions to make it transparent. The method is useful only when combined with fluorescent labeling techniques such as immunolabeling and advanced imaging techniques such as optical sectioning microscopy. Hence, using this technique, it is feasible to obtain an unparalleled image of the entire specimen, enabling the collection of comprehensive data from the intact biological specimen.
The rising incidences and prevalence of several chronic disorders, such as cancer and neurological disorders, potentiate tissue clearing for observing tissues involved in these disorders. Tissue clearing is used in many areas of biological research. It is also a technique used for three-dimensional histology. Hence, growing research and development boosts the market. Additionally, technological advancements lead to innovations of novel and more advanced imaging techniques for better visualization of tissue samples.
Artificial intelligence (AI) revolutionizes histopathology, resulting in accurate, scalable, useful, and affordable methods, enabling clinical decisions. AI aids in advanced microscopic visualization of human tissues in 3D. It can even visualize large volumes at the cellular level, overcoming the limitations of 2D microscopy. Machine learning (ML), especially deep learning, can be useful in extracting meaningful insights from vast data. Hence, ML can be used in interpretation tasks such as cancer classification, tumor grading, genetic mutation prediction, cell classification, treatment planning, and survival estimation. AI and convolutional neural networks can be trained to generate high-resolution human-interpretable results. These methods reduce animal use for experiments, thereby enhancing data quality and quantity, accelerating research, and enabling in-silico modeling.
Growing Research and Development
The rising incidences of chronic disorders lead to continuous evolution to develop novel treatment regimens for treating chronic disorders. For the development of novel treatment regimens, a deeper understanding of the disease prognosis is required. This results in increased demand for biological and histopathology research. The growing research and development activities boost the tissue clearing market. The growing R&D activities are favored by increasing investments through government and private organizations. Additionally, favorable government initiatives for effective screening, diagnosis, and treating chronic disorders support market growth. Tissue clearing has been applied to the nervous system, bones, hearts and vasculature, lungs, mammary glands, etc. Also, whole-body clearing has been done in smaller animals like rodents.
Lengthy Clearing Times and Selection of Appropriate Method
The major challenge of the tissue clearing market is that clearing can take several weeks for large samples. Hence, this technique might not be feasible due to lengthy clearing times and lengthy incubations needed for the conventional antibody penetration methods. Additionally, the selection of an appropriate tissue-clearing method is another major challenge for the market. These challenges restrict market growth.
Latest Advancements
The future of the tissue clearing market looks promising, with the latest advancements in clearing and imaging techniques. Several researchers are investigating novel chemicals or materials for effective clearing of the tissues. The three major types of tissue-clearing techniques include organic solvent-based, aqueous-based, and hydrogel-embedding tissue clearing. The type of clearing technique is selected based on the research requirements. Additionally, novel advancements in imaging techniques have been developed to improve the visualization of 3D tissues. Scientists have evaluated light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) for whole-body and whole-organ imaging. Apart from this, stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy facilitates deep volumetric imaging without histological staining. The clearing, labeling, and imaging of whole human organs is difficult and presents future growth opportunities for the market.
By product, the kits & reagents segment held a dominant presence in the tissue clearing market in 2023. Kits & reagents are the primary requirements for the tissue clearing experiments. Kits enable easy set-up of rapid tissue clearing for 3D tissue imaging using simple protocols and standard laboratory equipment. Tissue-clearing reagents include xylene and/or its substituents and other fluids. Several companies sell reagents to refill the kit requirements for multiple experiments. Additionally, the kits & reagents are available at an affordable rate compared to instruments.
By product, the services segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate in the market during the forecast period. Several research organizations offer tissue-clearing services for researchers, as they save a lot of time for their other research work. Services offer more accurate and precise results. It is helpful for organizations that lack skilled professionals to perform tissue-clearing experiments.
By tissue type, the soft tissues segment led the global tissue clearing market in 2023. Soft tissues include muscles, fat, fibrous tissue, blood vessels, lymph vessels, and nerves. Tissue clearing of soft tissues is comparatively simpler. The most common technique for clearing soft tissues is modified BABB tissue clearing. The demand for the clearing of soft tissues is increasing due to the need to study disease prognosis.
By tissue type, the hard tissues segment is predicted to witness significant growth in the market over the forecast period. Hard tissues such as bones and teeth require tissue clearing due to the increasing incidences of skeletal disorders and dental issues. Tissue clearing of hard tissues is difficult due to their higher opacity. Hence, the continuous development of tissue clearing, labeling, and imaging techniques for hard tissues augments the segment’s growth.
By application, the neurology segment held the largest share of the tissue clearing market in 2023. Tissue clearing has become an essential tool for neuroscientists to investigate the neural connectome or to analyze spatial information of various types of brain cells. The rising prevalence of neurological disorders such as dementia, multiple sclerosis, meningitis, brain tumors, etc., due to the increasing geriatric population and the latest technological advancements to image brain tissues potentiate the segment’s growth.
By application, the oncology segment is projected to expand rapidly in the market in the coming years. The rising incidences and complexity of cancer demonstrate tissue-clearing experiments, thereby promoting the segment’s growth. Using the tissue-clearing technique, the exact location of the cancer metastasis with single-cell resolution could be identified. It can also be used to visualize the cancer cell cycle. Hence, the technique provides a comprehensive and unbiased analysis of disease progression. Approximately 20 million cancer cases were reported in 2022 globally.
By end-use, the academic research segment registered its dominance over the global tissue clearing market in 2023. The segment’s growth is attributed to favorable government funding and suitable infrastructure. Additionally, increased collaborations with academic institutions and academic-industrial collaborations drive the segment’s growth.
By end-use, the industrial segment will gain a significant share of the market over the studied period. Tissue clearing in industries is favored due to the presence of skilled professionals, favorable infrastructure, and suitable capital investments. The rapidly expanding research and development activities at industrial levels promote the segment’s growth.
North America dominated the tissue clearing market in 2023. The rising incidences of chronic disorders, technological advancements, state-of-the-art research and development facilities, and the presence of key players drive the market. As of 2023, around 6.7 million Americans aged 65 or older suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. At the same time, the new cancer cases in the US were reported to be 1.9 million in 2022. The market is also driven by favorable government policies and increasing investments & public-private collaborations in the country. The US Government’s National Institute of Health (NIH) and its other affiliates support research and provide funding for conducting research. Similarly, the Government of Canada invested millions of dollars in the biomanufacturing, vaccine, and therapeutics ecosystem of the country. Additionally, major players such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sigma-Aldrich, Visikol, etc., hold the major share of the market.
Asia-Pacific is projected to host the fastest-growing tissue clearing market in the coming years. The increasing geriatric population, rising incidences & prevalence of chronic disorders, growing research and development, and increasing investments drive the market. China, India, and Japan are at the forefront of augmenting market growth in the Asia-Pacific region. China reports the highest number of dementia cases globally in the older age population. It is estimated that around 8.8 million people aged 60 and above in India suffer from dementia. In addition, the new cancer cases in China, India, and Japan were reported to be 4.8 million, 1.5 million, and 1 million, respectively, in 2022. Furthermore, the booming biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries in the region favor market growth.
In September 2024, SamanTree Medical announced that it had received the US FDA 510(k) clearance for its Histolog Scanner for imaging the internal microstructure of tissues including identification of cells, vessels, and their organization. Dr. Charles Carignan, Executive Chairman of SamanTree Medical, commented that the FDA clearance is a milestone for the company and they are thrilled to introduce the scanner in the US market. He also added that the scanner will provide surgeons and pathologists with immediate, actionable information.
By Product
By Tissue Type
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By End-Use
By Region
December 2024
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December 2024
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