US 12,332,154 B2 · Automated specimen processing systems and methods

Abstract

The disclosure presents systems and methods for processing a specimen slide using a specimen processing system. Specimen slides may sequentially be ejected from a slide carrier towards a label reader to determine an appropriate processing protocol for the slides. A cracking element may be engaged with the slide carrier prior to ejecting the slide, in order to break or “crack” any residual adhesive bond between edges of a slide and walls of the carrier. The specimen slides may be horizontally aligned and resting on a corresponding plurality of flat shelves, enabling even spacing via gravitational forces. The slides are therefore evenly spaced, enabling damage-free ejection of slides, and proper positioning for additional operations including scanning, viewing, heating, washing, and other processing. The label reader may process scanned information from the label of the slide to determine one or more attributes of the slide, and to generate an order or sequence of operations to be thereafter performed on the slide.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A method for processing a specimen, the method comprising:

cracking an adhesive bond between a slide and a slide carrier with a cracking element by contacting the cracking element with at least one wall of the slide carrier with a force sufficient to crack the adhesive bond, wherein the cracking element has a cracking surface and is coupled to an actuator, and wherein the cracking element is movable by the actuator between a first position located adjacent to but not in contact with the at least one wall of the slide carrier and a second position in contact with the at least one wall of the slide carrier but not in contact with the slide;
ejecting the slide from the slide carrier using a slide ejector, wherein the slide carrier comprises a plurality of evenly spaced flat shelves coupled to the at least one wall, wherein each evenly spaced flat shelf of the plurality of evenly spaced flat shelves is configured to support a slide in a substantially horizontal position relative to the ground, and wherein the slide is ejected with the slide ejector while in the substantially horizontal position;
reading a label of the slide using a label reader;
and
utilizing a processor for determining one or more processes to be performed on the slide based on the label read by the label reader.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Automated specimen processing systems and methods

Life of this patent

Automated specimen processing systems and methods

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19