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US 2024/0402057 A1Published application
Contactless mixing using modulated air jets
AssigneeVentana Medical Systems, Inc.
InventorNathaniel Crum
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed is a device for contactlessly mixing fluid present on the upper surface of the slide, where the device comprises a first nozzle array and a second nozzle array, the first nozzle array adapted to impart a bulk fluid flow to the fluid present on the upper surface of the slide, and the second nozzle array adapted to impart at least a first regional fluid flow to at least a portion of the fluid present on the upper surface of the slide
Claims20
An automated slide processing apparatus comprising:
- at least one fluid dispenser configured to dispense a fluid onto an upper surface of a specimen-bearing slide;
- and
- a contactless mixer for mixing the fluid present on the upper surface of the slide, where the contactless mixer comprises at least a first nozzle array and a second nozzle array, the first nozzle array adapted to create one or more gas streams for imparting a bulk fluid flow to the fluid present on the upper surface of the slide, the bulk fluid flow being a motion imparted to a majority of the fluid on the upper surface of the slide, and the second nozzle array adapted to create one or more gas streams for imparting at least a first regional fluid flow to at least a portion of the fluid present on the upper surface of the slide, the first regional fluid flow being a flow of the fluid in a particular portion or area of the fluid on the upper surface of the slide less than the majority of the fluid on the upper surface of the slide.
An automated slide processing apparatus comprising:
- a contactless mixer for mixing fluid present on an upper surface of a slide, where the contactless mixer comprises a first nozzle set and a second nozzle set, the first nozzle set adapted to impart a first motion to the fluid present on the upper surface of the slide, and the second nozzle set adapted to impart at least a second motion to at least a portion of the fluid present on the upper surface of the slide, wherein the at least the second motion enables cross-mixing of the fluid, wherein the first and second nozzle sets are configured to direct streams of gas to predetermined positions on the upper surface of the slide.
A method of processing a specimen-bearing slide comprising:
- (i) depositing a first reagent on the specimen-bearing slide;
- and (ii) uniformly distributing the deposited first reagent on the specimen-bearing slide, wherein the deposited first reagent is distributed by introducing at least a first gas stream to the deposited first reagent to effectuate a first fluid motion to a first portion of the deposited first reagent for a predetermined first period of time, and introducing a second gas stream to the deposited first reagent to effectuate at least a second fluid motion to at least a second portion of the deposited first reagent for a predetermined second period of time, wherein at least one of the first or second gas streams form an angle of with the surface of the specimen-bearing slide ranging from between about 20 degrees to about 60 degrees.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.