Sectioning volume samples
AssigneeHoward Hughes Medical Institute
InventorsHarald F. Hess, David Peale, Patrick R. Lee
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A microtome includes a blade located at an end of a trough that defines a cavity for holding a liquid; a sample block in which the at least one sample is suspended, the sample block is moveable relative to the blade such that when the sample block is passed across the blade a section is cut from the sample block; a plate that includes a support frame that defines an opening, and a transparent film extending across the opening, the transparent film being transparent to electrons, a grasper being configured to receive and retain the plate, wherein the grasper is moveable relative to the blade; and a pusher section that lacks the sample pusher section.
Claims25
A method of cutting at least one sample suspended in a sample block of material, the method comprising:
- passing the sample block across a blade one or more times;
- with each passing of the sample block across the blade, cutting a sample section from the sample block, wherein one or more sample sections float on a liquid;
- passing a blank block across the blade one or more times, wherein the blank block lacks the sample;
- with each passing of the blank block across the blade, cutting a pusher section from the blank block, wherein one or more pusher sections float on the liquid and a last pusher section remains attached to the blade;
- positioning a plate that includes an imaging region in the liquid and under at least the one or more sample sections;
- clinging the one or more sample sections and the one or more pusher sections to the plate;
- and
- removing the last pusher section from the blade.
A method of cutting a sample suspended in a sample block of material, the method comprising:
- repeatedly passing a sample block across a blade located at the end of a trough that defines a cavity that holds a liquid;
- with each passing of the sample block across the blade, cutting a sample section from the sample block, wherein a plurality of sample sections float onto the liquid held within the trough and remain adhered to each other;
- passing a blank block across the blade one or more times, wherein the blank block lacks the sample, and with each passing of the blank block across the blade, cutting a pusher section from the blank block, at least one pusher section remaining attached to the blade;
- clinging all of the plurality of sample sections to a plate that includes a support frame and an electron-transparent imaging region inside the support frame such that at least a sample in a sample section is positioned over the electron-transparent imaging region;
- removing the pusher section that is attached to the blade from the blade;
- detecting a relative physical feature between one or more of the blade, the trough, the liquid, the plate, and the sample block;
- and
- controlling one or more of the passing, the cutting, the clinging, and the removing based on the detected relative physical feature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.