Passive voluntary positioning of animal for microscopy

Abstract

A coupling apparatus passively positions a portion of an animal relative to an experimental apparatus. The coupling apparatus includes: an animal plate fixed to the animal portion, the animal plate including a plurality of first elements; and a mounting stage fixed relative to the experimental apparatus. The mounting stage includes a wall structure defining an animal opening large enough to accommodate the animal portion and a plate opening sized to accommodate the animal plate, the wall structure including a plurality of second elements. When the animal portion travels though the animal opening, the animal plate is passively guided through the plate opening until each first element is passively coupled with a respective second element such that the animal plate and the mounting stage are mechanically and passively coupled together to form a kinematic mount.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.