US 5,439,649 AGranted

Automated staining apparatus

AssigneeBioGenex Laboratories

InventorsKen Tseung, Wai Bun Wong, Glenn K. Takayama, Christopher M. Jones, Krishan L. Kalra

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Abstract

An automated microscope-slide-staining apparatus, having a supporting framework; an arm moveable in three dimensions attached to the framework; apparatus for moving the arm; a hollow tip head located on the arm; apparatus for alternatively supplying positive or negative gas pressure to the hollow tip head; a removable wash/blow tip having an exit slit, the wash/blow tip being adapted to be removably attached to the hollow tip head by a preselected movement of the arm; a wash/blow tip holder at a first fixed location on the framework; a reagent application tip holder at a second fixed location on the framework for holding a reagent application tip, the reagent application tip being adapted to be removably attached to the hollow tip head by a preselected movement of the arm; a reagent container holder at a third fixed location on the framework; a microscope slide holder at a fourth fixed location on the framework, the microscope slide holder being adapted to removably contain the microscope slide; and control apparatus for controlling movement of the arm between the locations, whereby the tip head picks up the wash/blow tip or the reagent application tip in response to movement of the arm under control of the control apparatus and moves to one or more of the locations to pick up a reagent in the reagent container or dispense the reagent on the slide or to dispense a gas through the wash/blow tip over the slide. Components of the apparatus and methods of staining are also part of the invention.

Claims24

Dependent claims

An automatic apparatus for staining a microscope slide, comprising:

a supporting framework;
an arm moveable in three dimensions attached to said framework;
means for moving said arm;
a hollow tip head located on said arm;
means for alternatively supplying positive or negative .gas pressure to said hollow tip head to withdraw or dispense gas or liquid through said hollow tip head;
a removable wash/blow tip having an exit slit substantially equal in length to the width of said microscope slide, said wash/blow tip being adapted to be removably attached to said hollow tip head by a preselected movement of said arm;
a wash/blow tip holder at a first fixed location on said framework;
a reagent application tip holder at a second fixed location on said framework for holding a reagent application tip, said reagent application tip being adapted to be removably attached to said hollow tip head by a preselected movement of said arm;
a reagent container holder at a third fixed location on said framework;
a microscope slide holder at a fourth fixed location on said framework, said microscope slide holder being adapted to removably contain said microscope slide;
and;
control means operatively connected to said means for moving said arm and said means for alternatively supplying positive or negative gas pressure, for controlling movement of said arm between said locations, to cause said tip head to pick up said wash/blow tip or said reagent application tip and to move to one or more of said locations to withdraw a reagent from said reagent container or to dispense said reagent on said slide through said reagent application tip or to dispense a gas or liquid over said slide through said wash/blow tip.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.