System for marking the locations of imaged tissue with respect to the surface of the tissue

A method for marking on a recording medium the location of tissue sections imaged by a microscope with respect to the surface of the tissue in which the microscope has optics through which the microscope images the tissue, said method comprising the steps of:

• stabilizing said tissue to said optics of the microscope;
• selecting one or more tissue sections imaged by the microscope by movement of said stabilized tissue with respect to the said optics of said microscope to enable different tissue sections to be imaged by said microscope;
• determining location information representing the location in the tissue of each said selected tissue section with respect to the surface of said tissue;
• and
• producing one or more marks on a recording medium in accordance with said location information indicating the location with respect to said surface of the tissue of said selected tissue sections,
• wherein said selecting, determining, and producing steps are carried out by the steps of:
• positioning a pen over said recording medium in which said pen is coupled to said optics as said microscope provides images of one or more tissue sections;
• and
• applying ink from said pen to said recording medium to select each of the tissue sections imaged by said microscope, and to record location information and mark said recording medium.

An apparatus for marking on a recording medium the location of one or more tissue sections imaged by a microscope with respect to the surface of the tissue in which the microscope has optics through which the microscope images the tissue, said apparatus comprising:

• a ring attachable to tissue to localize tissue to the optics of the microscope and to enable different tissue sections to be imaged by said microscope by movement of said ring with respect to said optics;
• a platen coupled to move with said ring upon which recording medium is locatable;
• and
• means connectable to the microscope to enable application of one or more marks onto said recording medium when present upon said platen.