Device and method for handling a probe
AssigneeFraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
InventorsGünter Fuhr, Uwe Schön, Heiko Zimmermann, Young-Joo Oh
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Abstract
The invention relates to a device and method for handling a probe, in particular, for treating, examining, inserting or extracting a cryoprobe. According to the invention, said probe is surrounded by an ambient gas, during handling, and an air-conditioning device (33) cools, dries and/or at least partially replaces the ambient gas by a protective gas, in order to prevent deterioration of the probe by the ambient gas during handling.
Claims28
A device for handling a sample, the sample being a cryosample surrounded during the handling by an ambient gas, comprising:
- a) climate control equipment adapted to perform an operation selected from the group consisting of:
- i. cooling the ambient gas,
- ii. drying the ambient gas, and
- iii. replacing the ambient gas with a protective gas in order to avoid deterioration of the sample by the ambient gas,
- b) a protective container for receiving the sample during the handling, the climate control equipment being connected to the protective container in order to perform said operation, and
- c) a protective gas source that is part of the climate control equipment and is adapted to fill the protective container at least partially with the protective gas, the protective gas preventing a deterioration of the sample during its handling,
- wherein the protective gas source comprises an at least partially open protective-gas storage container inside the protective container, said protective-gas storage container containing liquefied protective gas adapted to outgas into the protective container.
A method for handling a sample, the sample being a cryosubstrate surrounded during the handling by an ambient gas, comprising the following steps:
- a) introducing the sample into a protective container,
- b) performing an operation selected from the group consisting of:
- i. cooling the ambient gas,
- ii. drying the ambient gas, and
- iii. replacing the ambient gas with a protective gas in order to avoid a deterioration of the sample by the ambient gas, and
- c) using a protective gas source in order to fill the protective container at least partially with the protective gas that prevents a deterioration of the sample during its handling,
- wherein liquefied protective gas outgasses into the protective container from an at least partially open protective-gas storage container of the protective gas source, said protective-gas storage container being provided inside the protective container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.