Method of pre-treatment and staining of a biological sample and device for support of a biological sample and methods of using such device

A device comprising:

• a non-volatile memory;
• a surface of the device adapted to carry a biological sample;
• and
• communications means electrically coupled to the memory for enabling data transmission either to the device from an external apparatus or from the device to the external apparatus.

A device for carrying a biological sample comprising:

• a sample carrier having a surface carrying the sample;
• a non-volatile memory upon or within the sample carrier;
• and
• communications means upon or within the sample carrier and electrically coupled to the memory for enabling data transmission either to the device from an external apparatus or from the device to the external apparatus.

A device for carrying a biological sample comprising:

• a sample carrier having a surface carrying the sample;
• a holding device incorporating the sample carrier;
• a non-volatile memory upon or within the holding device;
• and
• communications means upon or within the holding device and electrically coupled to the memory for enabling data transmission either to the device from an external apparatus or from the device to the external apparatus.

A method of controlling processing of a biological sample disposed upon a sample carrier, comprising the steps of:

• providing, upon or within the sample carrier, a non-volatile memory having information relating to a sample processing priority;
• reading the information;
• and
• scheduling the processing based upon the information.

A method of controlling processing a biological sample disposed upon a sample carrier, comprising the steps of:

• providing, upon or within an apparatus holding the sample carrier, a non-volatile memory having information relating to a sample processing priority;
• reading the information;
• and
• scheduling the processing based upon the information.

A method of controlling processing of a biological sample disposed upon a sample carrier, comprising the steps of:

• providing, upon or within the sample carrier, a non-volatile memory having information relating to a sample processing protocol;
• reading the information;
• and
• scheduling a sequence of sample treatment steps based upon the information.

A method of controlling processing of a biological sample disposed upon a sample carrier, comprising the steps of:

• providing, upon or within an apparatus holding the sample carrier, a non-volatile memory having information relating to a sample processing protocol;
• reading the information;
• and
• scheduling a sequence of sample treatment steps based upon the information.