Biological specimen handling apparatus and method
AssigneeSakura Finetek U.S.A., Inc.
InventorJames B. McCormick
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Abstract
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a mold is provided for receiving a tissue specimen and molten embedding material that improves the ease of withdrawing the embedded tissue specimen. The mold has a barrier coating intimately bonded to one or more surfaces of the mold that repels the attraction of the embedding material to the one or more mold surfaces and produces a positive meniscus of the embedding material in the mold. The barrier coating permits the mold to be re-used without needing to manually re-apply a release agent to the mold before using the mold. Further, the barrier coating permits the use of more aggressive draft angles than conventional molds by reducing the frictional engagement between the embedding material and the mold cavity surfaces.
Claims16
A tissue embedding mold comprising a bottom wall and sidewalls defining an interior volume and a paraffin resistant material coating on a portion of the bottom wall and sidewalls.
A method comprising:
- introducing an embedding material into a mold comprising a bottom wall and sidewalls defining an interior volume, wherein the mold comprises a paraffin resistant material coating on a portion of the bottom wall and sidewalls;
- and
- Inserting a tissue sample into the embedding material.
A method of making a tissue embedding mold comprising coating a portion of a bottom wall and sidewalls defining an interior volume with a paraffin resistant material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.