5/17/12 VISTA (CA) -  Aperio Technologies Inc. has raised $5.5 million in debt and security options, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Aperio's digital pathology products convert patient tissue samples on standard glass slides into digital slides that can be shared over the Internet for expert analysis, and stored for later re-examination at any time. The company provides a similar service to life science researchers.

The digital slides show extremely fine detail; they can each take up gigabytes of storage space.

The company's products include rapid, high-resolution sample scanners, a hosting service to store the digital slides, and software to help read slides on a computer monitor.