Method and apparatus for automatic tissue staining

An apparatus for preparing slides, said apparatus comprising:

• an automatic staining apparatus, said automatic staining apparatus having capacity for a plurality of slides, said automatic staining apparatus for dispensing reagents onto said slides, said plurality of slides comprising a first set of slides and a second set of slides, said automatic staining apparatus responsive to a set of electrical commands;
• a computer system, said computer system coupled to said automatic staining apparatus for delivering said set of electrical commands;
• and
• an autostainer control program, said autostainer control program executing a first set of programmable protocol steps for said first set of said slides and said autostainer control program executing a second set of programmable protocol steps for said second set of said slides.

An apparatus for preparing slides, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of slides;
• a delivery system for dispensing reagents on said slides;
• a reservoir for collecting reagents washed off said slides;
• a first pump for removing nonhazardous waste from said reservoir;
• and
• a second pump for removing hazardous waste from said reservoir.

An apparatus for preparing slides, said apparatus comprising:

• a reagent rack for storing a plurality of different reagents;
• a slide rack for holding a plurality of slides;
• a robotic motion control system, said robotic motion control system having a probe for dispensing reagent from said reagent rack onto said slides;
• and
• a washbin, said robotic motion control system washes said probe in said washbin between the use of different reagents in said reagent rack.

A computer implemented method of programming an autostaining apparatus, said method comprising the steps of:

• graphically displaying a first list of possible protocol steps on a computer display;
• graphically displaying a second list of selected protocol steps;
• and
• accepting input from a user to move protocol steps from said list of possible protocol steps to said list of selected protocol steps;
• and
• saving said second list of selected protocol steps for future use.

A computer implemented method of programming an slide preparation apparatus, said method comprising the steps of:

• displaying a grid comprising a plurality of tiles on a computer display, a first axis of said grid corresponding to a set of slides to be prepared and a second axis of said grid corresponding to a set of protocol steps to be performed on said slides;
• accepting input from a user to select particular tile;
• and
• displaying edit information about said particular tile in response to said input from said user.