# US 10,871,426 B2 · Assessment and control of reagents in automated slide preparation > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,871,426 B2 - Document ID: US10871426B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/792,460 - Filed: 2017-10-24 - Published: 2018-05-24 - Granted: 2020-12-22 - Earliest claimed: 2016-10-25 - Assignees: Abbott Laboratories - Applicants: Abbott Laboratories - Inventors: Svitlana Y. Berezhna; Mahmoud Janbakhsh; Ema C. Olah; Robert Langsner - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10871426B2 ## CPC - G06V 20/698: {Matching; Classification} - G01N 1/30: Staining; Impregnating {; Fixation; Dehydration; Multistep processes for preparing samples of tissue, cell or nucleic acid material and the like for analysis} - G01N 35/00663: {of consumables} - G06T 7/0014: {using an image reference approach} - G06T 7/90: Determination of colour characteristics - G06V 10/758: {Involving statistics of pixels or of feature values, e.g. histogram matching} - G01F 23/68: using electrically actuated indicating means - G01F 23/706: {using opto-electrically actuated indicating means} - G01F 25/20: of apparatus for measuring liquid level - G01N 1/312: {for samples mounted on planar substrates} - G01N 2001/302: {Stain compositions} - G01N 2001/315: {Basket-type carriers for tissues} - G01N 2035/00673: {of reagents} - G06T 2207/10024: Color image - G06T 2207/10056: Microscopic image - G06T 2207/30024: Cell structures in vitro; Tissue sections in vitro - G06V 2201/03: Recognition of patterns in medical or anatomical images - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G01F: MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME ## Abstract The present disclosure provides methods for the automated control of aspects of slide preparation in an automated slide preparation instrument. Aspects of the methods include automated assessments of reagent amounts, quality and performance as well as automated adjustments of reagents based on such assessments, including the adjustment of reagent amounts, e.g., as present in reagent baths, the adjustment of reagent compositions and the replacement of reagents. Devices and systems useful in performing the described methods are also provided herein. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of assessing a stain, the method comprising: simultaneously staining a plurality of slides in the stain wherein the plurality comprises at least one specimen slide and a blank slide; acquiring a digital color image of the stained blank slide using a specimen slide imaging device; processing the digital color image to produce a background stain signature comprising at least one staining parameter value; and comparing the background stain signature to a reference signature to assess the stain, wherein the reference signature is based on: 1) a digital image of an unstained slide acquired using the specimen slide imaging device, and 2) one or more parameter values obtained for a reference blank slide, the reference blank slide prepared using a stain of known quality. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one staining parameter value comprises an overall staining intensity value. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the processing comprises separating the digital color image into individual color channels. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method according to claim 3, wherein the at least one staining parameter value comprises a red staining intensity value. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The method according to claim 3, wherein the at least one staining parameter value comprises a green staining intensity value. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The method according to claim 3, wherein the at least one staining parameter value comprises a blue staining intensity value. ### Claim 7 (depends on 3) The method according to claim 3, wherein the acquiring comprises acquiring a plurality of digital color images of different areas of the stained blank slide and the processing comprises processing the plurality of digital color images to produce a background stain signature comprising at least one stain parameter value for each image of the plurality. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the at least one stain parameter value for each image of the plurality comprises an overall staining intensity value. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method according to claim 8, wherein the staining parameter value comprises an overall staining uniformity value. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the processing comprises separating each image of the plurality into individual color channels. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10, wherein the at least one staining parameter value for each image of the plurality comprises a red staining intensity value. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method according to claim 11, wherein the staining parameter value comprises a red staining uniformity value. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method according to claim 11, wherein the at least one staining parameter value for each image of the plurality comprises a green staining intensity value. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method according to claim 13, wherein the staining parameter value comprises a green staining uniformity value. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10, wherein the at least one staining parameter value for each image of the plurality comprises a blue staining intensity value. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, wherein the staining parameter value comprises a blue staining uniformity value. ### Claim 17 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the different areas of the stained blank slide are adjacent areas. ### Claim 18 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the different areas of the stained blank slide are nonadjacent areas. ### Claim 19 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the different areas of the stained blank slide are in a path along the middle of the slide. ### Claim 20 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the stained blank slide comprises a long axis and a short axis. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The method according to claim 20, wherein the different areas of the stained blank slide are in a path along the long axis of the slide. ### Claim 22 (depends on 20) The method according to claim 20, wherein the different areas of the stained blank slide are in a path along the short axis of the slide. ### Claim 23 (depends on 20) The method according to claim 20, wherein the different areas of the stained blank slide comprise a path along the short axis and a path along the long axis. ### Claim 24 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the reference signature is further based on a digital image, acquired using the specimen slide imaging device, of a blank slide stained with a stain of known quality. ### Claim 25 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the method assesses the quality of the stain. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The method according to claim 25, wherein the method further comprises outputting a result as to whether the stain quality is above a predetermined threshold. ### Claim 27 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the method assesses the presence of debris in the stain. ### Claim 28 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the method assesses whether the stain produces streaks. ### Claim 29 (depends on 25) A method of controlling stain quality, the method comprising: assessing the quality of a stain according to claim 25; outputting a result as to whether the stain quality is above a predetermined threshold; and triggering an adjustment of the stain based on the result. ### Claim 30 (depends on 29) The method according to claim 29, wherein the adjustment comprises increasing an amount of the stain present in a staining bath. ### Claim 31 (depends on 29) The method according to claim 29, wherein the adjustment comprises supplementing the stain with one or more components of the stain. ### Claim 32 (depends on 30) The method according to claim 30, wherein the adjustment comprises emptying the stain bath and replacing the stain. ### Claim 33 (depends on 32) The method according to claim 32, wherein the emptying and replacing further comprises washing the stain bath.