A paraffin-embedded tissue section sample scraping device

Abstract

The application discloses a paraffin-embedded tissue section sample scraping device, which comprises a machine box, a section conveying device, a section scraping knife scraping device and a controller, the section conveying device is fixedly arranged in the machine box, the section conveying device comprises a section clamp and a section clamp conveying piece, the section clamp is used for placing a paraffin-embedded tissue section, and the section clamp is fixedly arranged on the section clamp conveying piece; the section scraping knife scraping device is horizontally and slidably arranged in the machine box, the section scraping knife scraping device comprises a section scraping knife driving piece and a section scraping knife, the section scraping knife driving piece is drivingly connected with the section scraping knife and is used for driving the section scraping knife to move up and down so as to scrape the paraffin-embedded tissue section on the section clamp; and the controller is electrically connected with the section conveying device and the section scraping knife scraping device, so as to control the section conveying device and the section scraping knife scraping device to work. The device can automatically scrape sections, reduces the biological safety risk caused by manual sectioning, and improves sectioning efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of medical testing technology, specifically to the pretreatment of pathological tissue section samples, and particularly to a scraping device for paraffin-embedded tissue section samples. Background Technology

[0002] Paraffin-embedded tissue sections refer to medical pathological tissues obtained through surgery or puncture, which are dehydrated, fixed into wax blocks, and then sliced ​​into thin sections and fixed onto glass slides.

[0003] Currently, in medical testing laboratories, the scraping of tissue sections and replacement of blades are performed manually by laboratory personnel on the lab bench. To extract sufficient amounts of nucleic acid, it is often necessary to extract multiple sections from the same patient. When there are many sections, manual operation is time-consuming and prone to confusion between samples from different patients. Furthermore, to avoid contamination, the scraper blade needs to be replaced when scraping samples from different patients, and there is a risk of cutting the operator's fingers during the sample scraping process, which is not conducive to biosafety management. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The main objective of this invention is to provide a device for scraping paraffin-embedded tissue section samples, which aims to solve the technical problems of low safety and efficiency in the scraping of tissue sections in hospitals and laboratories.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a scraping device for paraffin-embedded tissue section samples, comprising:

[0006] Chassis;

[0007] A slide transfer device is fixedly installed inside the chassis. The slide transfer device includes a slide clamp and a slide clamp transfer component. The slide clamp is used to place paraffin-embedded tissue slides, and the slide clamp is fixedly installed on the slide clamp transfer component.

[0008] A scraping device is horizontally and slidably disposed within the chassis. The scraping device includes a scraper drive and a scraper. The scraper drive is connected to the scraper and drives the scraper to move up and down to scrape paraffin-embedded tissue sections on the slide holder.

[0009] The controller is electrically connected to the slice conveying device and the scraper scraping device to control the operation of the slice conveying device and the scraper scraping device.

[0010] Optionally, a slice collection device is also included, which includes a collection tube and a collection tube conveyor. The collection tube conveyor is fixedly installed inside the chassis, and the collection tube is placed on the collection tube conveyor for collecting the slices scraped off by the scraper blade.

[0011] Optionally, both the slice clamp conveyor and the collection tube conveyor are conveyor belts.

[0012] Optionally, a slide rail and a sliding rod are horizontally arranged inside the chassis. The sliding rod is slidably arranged on the slide rail, and the scraper blade scraping device is slidably arranged on the sliding rod to adjust the position of the scraper blade in the horizontal direction.

[0013] Optionally, the chassis is also equipped with a new blade collection box and an old blade collection box, which are used to place new scraper blades and used scraper blades respectively, so that the scraper blades can be replaced when the scraper blade scraping device moves horizontally.

[0014] Optionally, the scraper blade scraping device further includes a blade clamp, which is rotatably connected to the drive end of the scraper blade drive unit for clamping the scraper blade and adjusting its scraping angle.

[0015] Optionally, the blade clamp includes two opposing and spaced electromagnetic clamping blocks, each of which is electrically connected to a controller to control the energization and de-energization of the electromagnetic clamping blocks.

[0016] Optionally, the slide holder has a barcode corresponding to the tissue slide placed on the slide holder, and the scraper scraping device further includes a barcode detector. The controller is electrically connected to the barcode detector to identify the barcode and scrape the slide.

[0017] Optionally, the slice clamp is provided with a locking block, and the slice clamp conveyor is provided with a locking hole. The locking block engages with the locking hole to fix the slice clamp.

[0018] Optionally, the slice clamp conveyor is further provided with a magnetic element, and the slice clamp is made of iron, so that the slice clamp is attracted to the slice clamp conveyor.

[0019] In the technical solution of this invention, a slide conveying device and a scraper scraping device are installed inside the chassis. The controller controls the slide conveying device to transport the slide holder, controls the scraper scraping device to move above the slide holder, and controls the scraper drive to drive the scraper downward to scrape the tissue slides on the slide holder. By automating the scraper scraping process, the biosafety risks associated with manual slide preparation are reduced, and slide preparation efficiency is improved. Attached Figure Description

[0020] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the structures shown in these drawings without creative effort.

[0021] Figure 1 A three-dimensional structural diagram of an embodiment of the paraffin-embedded tissue section sample scraping device provided by the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Side view of the scraping device with scraper blade in the middle;

[0023] Figure 3 for Figure 1 A front view of the slice folder in the image;

[0024] Figure 4 for Figure 1 A side view of the slice clip in the image.

[0025] Labeling Explanation: 100-Paraffin-embedded tissue section sample scraping device, 1-Chassis, 11-Slide rail, 12-Sliding rod, 13-New blade collection box, 14-Old blade collection box, 2-Slide conveying device, 21-Slide clamp, 211-Barcode, 212-Card block, 22-Slide clamp conveying component, 3-Scraper scraping device, 31-Scraper drive component, 32-Scraper, 33-Blade clamp, 331-Electromagnetic clamping block, 34-Barcode detector, 4-Slide collection device, 41-Collection tube, 42-Collection tube conveying component.

[0026] The realization of the objective, functional features and advantages of the present invention will be further explained in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Detailed Implementation

[0027] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0028] It should be noted that if the embodiments of the present invention involve directional indicators (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.), the directional indicators are only used to explain the relative positional relationship and movement of the components in a certain specific posture (as shown in the figure). If the specific posture changes, the directional indicators will also change accordingly.

[0029] Furthermore, if the embodiments of this invention involve descriptions such as "first" or "second," these descriptions are for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of those features. Additionally, the meaning of "and / or" throughout the text includes three parallel solutions; for example, "A and / or B" includes solution A, solution B, or a solution where both A and B are satisfied simultaneously. Furthermore, the technical solutions of the various embodiments can be combined with each other, but this must be based on the ability of those skilled in the art to implement them. When the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or impossible to implement, it should be considered that such a combination of technical solutions does not exist and is not within the scope of protection claimed by this invention.

[0030] Currently, in medical testing laboratories, the scraping of tissue sections and replacement of blades are performed manually by laboratory personnel on the lab bench. To extract sufficient amounts of nucleic acid, it is often necessary to extract multiple sections from the same patient. When there are many sections, manual operation is time-consuming and prone to confusion between samples from different patients. Furthermore, to avoid contamination, the scraper blade needs to be replaced when scraping samples from different patients, and there is a risk of cutting the operator's fingers during the sample scraping process, which is not conducive to biosafety management.

[0031] In view of this, the present invention proposes a scraping device for paraffin-embedded tissue section samples. Figures 1 to 4 This is an embodiment of the paraffin-embedded tissue section sample scraping device 100 provided by the present invention.

[0032] Please see Figures 1 to 4 In this embodiment, the paraffin-embedded tissue section sample scraping device 100 includes a chassis 1, a section conveying device 2, a scraper 32, a scraping device 3, and a controller (not shown in the figure).

[0033] like Figure 1As shown, the slide conveying device 2 is fixedly installed inside the chassis 1. The slide conveying device 2 includes a slide clamp 21 and a slide clamp 21 conveyor 22. The slide clamp 21 is used to place paraffin-embedded tissue slides. In this embodiment, multiple slides can be placed. The slide conveyor is fixedly installed at the bottom of the chassis 1 and is vertically arranged. It can be a conveyor belt or a slide rail 11 for conveying. In this embodiment, a conveyor belt is preferred. The slide clamp 21 is fixedly installed on the slide clamp 21 conveyor 22, that is, on the conveyor belt, so that the slides on the slide clamp 21 can be placed vertically. The scraper blade 32 scraping device 3 is horizontally and slidably installed inside the chassis 1. The sliding method can be selected as a slide rail 11. The scraping device 3 includes a scraper 32 drive 31 and a scraper 32. The scraper 32 drive 31 drives the scraper 32, moving it up and down to scrape the paraffin-embedded tissue sections on the slide holder 21. In this embodiment, the scraper 32 drive 31 is an electric push rod, but it can also be a miniature cylinder, which will not be described in detail here. The controller is electrically connected to the slide conveying device 2 and the scraper 32 scraping device 3. By turning the slide conveying device 2 and the scraper 32 scraping device 3 on and off, the scraper 32 can be moved directly above the tissue section for scraping. Please refer to [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 3 It should be noted that the slide holder 21 is equipped with a groove, into which a glass slide for paraffin-embedded tissue sections can be inserted and fixed. Furthermore, the controller can be connected to a touchscreen for convenient control operation.

[0034] In this embodiment, a slide conveying device 2 and a scraper 32 scraping device 3 are installed inside the chassis 1. The controller controls the slide conveying device 2 to transport the slide holder 21, controls the scraper 32 scraping device 3 to move above the slide holder 21, adjusts its position in conjunction with the slide conveying device 2, and controls the scraper 32 drive 31 to drive the scraper 32 downward to scrape the tissue slides on the slide holder 21. By automating the scraper 32 scraping, the biosafety risks associated with manual slide preparation are reduced, and slide preparation efficiency is improved.

[0035] Alternatively, to facilitate the collection of the scraped slices, a slice collection device 4 is also included; please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 1The slide collection device 4 includes a collection tube 41 and a collection tube 41 conveyor 42. The collection tube 41 drive is fixedly mounted at the bottom of the housing 1 and positioned close to and in front of the slide clamp 21 conveyor 22. It can be a conveyor belt or a slide rail 11; in this embodiment, a conveyor belt is preferred. The collection tube 41 is placed horizontally on the collection tube 41 conveyor 42, with the opening of the collection tube 41 facing upwards and directly opposite the tissue slide, for collecting the scrapings scraped off by the scraper 32. Of course, there are multiple collection tubes 41. By providing a mounting bracket on the collection tube 41 conveyor 42, the collection tubes 41 can be stably placed on the conveyor belt. The collection tube 41 conveyor 42 is electrically connected to the controller, ensuring that the collection tubes 41 are positioned directly below the tissue slides.

[0036] Preferably, both the slice clamp 21 conveyor 22 and the collection tube 41 conveyor 42 are conveyor belts; wherein, the drive motor of the conveyor belt is preferably a stepper motor, which has high precision and is convenient for fine-tuning the position of the slice clamp 21 and the collection tube 41, so that the scraper blade 32 can accurately scrape the slices.

[0037] To allow for more flexible adjustment of the scraper blade 32's position, a slide rail 11 and a sliding rod 12 are horizontally arranged inside the housing 1. The sliding rod 12 is slidably mounted on the slide rail 11, and the scraper blade 32 scraping device 3 is slidably mounted on the sliding rod 12 to adjust the position of the scraper blade 32 in the horizontal direction. Specifically, in this embodiment, the upper end of the scraper blade 32 driving member 31, i.e., the electric push rod, is slidably mounted on the sliding rod 12. The slide rail 11 is located on the left and right side walls of the housing 1, and both ends of the sliding rod 12 are slidably mounted on the slide rail 11 to drive the electric push rod to move in the back-and-forth direction. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the sliding is driven by a motor (not shown in the figure). The sliding of the scraper blade 32 drive member 31 on the sliding rod 12 and the sliding of the sliding rod 12 on the slide rail 11 are both linear motions achieved by a gear and rack mechanism. The motor is a stepper motor and is electrically connected to the controller. Of course, other sliding driving methods can also be selected, such as linear motors, trapezoidal lead screws, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0038] For further details, please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 To facilitate replacement and control of the scraping blade angle of the scraping blade 32, the scraping device 3 of the scraping blade 32 also includes a blade clamp 33. The blade clamp 33 is rotatably connected to the drive end of the scraping blade 32 drive member 31 and is used to clamp the scraping blade 32 and adjust its scraping angle. The rotatable connection can be a hinge connection, gear meshing, or other rotatable connection methods. Furthermore, the blade clamp 33 is also connected to an electric push rod to adjust the scraping angle of the scraping blade 32 via a controller.

[0039] For preferred options, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 2 To better clamp the blade, the blade clamp 33 includes two opposing and spaced electromagnetic clamping blocks 331. Each electromagnetic clamping block 331 is electrically connected to a controller to control its energization and de-energization. Specifically, a fixing block is provided at the hinge point between the blade clamp 33 and the drive end of the scraper blade 32 drive member 31. The two electromagnetic clamping blocks 331 are slidably disposed on a slide rail 11 on the fixing block. A baffle is provided in the middle of the slide rail 11 to allow the two electromagnetic clamping blocks 331 to have a travel range. The controller controls the energization and de-energization of the electromagnetic clamping blocks 331, thereby realizing the automatic clamping and replacement operation of the scraper blade 32. Of course, it is not necessary to use electromagnetic clamping. The scraper blade 32 can be clamped by ordinary clamping blocks and then fixed by bolt tightening.

[0040] Furthermore, the scraper 32 needs to be replaced when handling samples from different patients to prevent contamination. To facilitate the replacement of old and new scraper 32, the housing 1 is also equipped with a new blade collection box 13 and an old blade collection box 14, which are used to hold new scraper 32 and used scraper 32 respectively, so that the scraper 32 can be replaced while the scraper 32 scraping device 3 is moving horizontally. For details, please refer to [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 1 The new blade collection box 13 and the old blade collection box 14 are located on the left and right side walls of the chassis 1, respectively, and below the slide rail 11 on the side wall of the chassis 1. The controller can control the scraping device 3 of the scraper blade 32 to move directly above the new and old blade collection boxes 14, and control the scraper blade 32 driver and blade clamp 33 to perform the placement of the old scraper blade 32 and the clamping of the new scraper blade 32. Of course, the scraper blades 32 on the new and old blade collection boxes 13 and 14 are evenly placed. The controller can also set the sliding rod 12 to move a specified distance on the slide rail 11, and issue commands to control the scraper blade 32 driver 31 to clamp downwards, making the implementation more automated. It should be noted that to prevent the magnetic adsorption of the ferrous scraper blade 32, a ceramic scraper blade 32 can be used, or a pad can be placed in the blade collection box to insert the scraper blade 32.

[0041] Please see Figure 3To automatically identify and track the source of tissue sections and prevent confusion, the tissue section holder 21 is equipped with a barcode 211 corresponding to the tissue sections placed on it. This means that multiple sections from the same patient can be placed sequentially into the same tissue section holder 21. The scraping device 3 of the scraper 32 also includes a barcode 211 detector 34, which is fixedly connected to the scraper 32 drive unit 31 (i.e., the electric push rod) and positioned slightly below the scraper 32. The controller is electrically connected to the barcode 211 detector 34 to identify the barcode 211 and perform scraping. The controller has a barcode 211 recognition module. After barcode 211 recognition, if the tissue section holder 21 is from a different patient, a command is issued to replace the scraper 32; if the tissue section holder 21 is from the same patient, the scraper 32 does not need to be replaced, and the scraping operation continues. It should be noted that the barcode 211 detector 34 is an infrared detector, which is already implemented in existing technology.

[0042] For preferred options, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 4 The slicing clamp 21 is equipped with a locking block 212, and the conveyor belt of the slicing clamp 21 is equipped with locking holes. The locking block 212 engages with the locking holes to fix the slicing clamp 21. To reduce the shaking of the slicing clamp 21 during slicing, multiple sets of locking blocks 212 and locking holes can be used to cooperate and improve its stability. Of course, there are many fixing methods, such as buckles, bolts, etc. In this embodiment, the locking block 212 with locking holes is chosen for easy removal. Other methods can also be chosen, which will not be described in detail here.

[0043] Similarly, the slice clamp 21 conveyor is also provided with a magnetic component (not shown in the figure). The slice clamp 21 is made of iron so that the slice clamp 21 can be attracted to the slice clamp 21 conveyor. The magnetic attraction method is more convenient. Of course, it can also be used in combination with the snap-fit ​​structure to make the installation of the slice clamp 21 more stable.

[0044] In addition, the present invention also provides a control method for an automatic scraping and collection device for paraffin-embedded tissue section samples, and explains the working process in detail as follows:

[0045] S1. Before starting work, slides from the same patient should be laid flat and inserted into the slide holder 21 in sequence. The slide holder 21 can be fixed on the conveyor belt, and multiple slide holders 21 can be placed on the conveyor belt in sequence. Similarly, multiple collection tubes 41 with corresponding slides and the same barcode 211 can be placed on the collection tube 41 conveyor belt in sequence.

[0046] S2. During operation, the controller controls the motor on the sliding rod 12 to position the scraping device 32 at a specific horizontal position and height, and controls the transmission belt to position the collection tube 41 directly below the scraping blade 32. During the scraping process of the same slice holder 21, the controller controls the conveyor belt that places the slice holder 21 to move slowly, while the motor on the sliding rod 12 and the conveyor belt that places the collection tube 41 remain stationary. The controller controls the scraping blade 32 to move downward so that samples from the same patient can be sliced ​​and collected in the same tube.

[0047] S3. After one slice holder 21 finishes scraping, the next set of slices is automatically scraped. The barcode 211 detector 34 on the scraper 32 device scans the barcode 211 to confirm whether the slices are from the same patient. If they are from the same patient, step S2 can continue. If they are from different patients, the scraper 32 needs to be replaced first. The motor on the sliding rod 12 and the slide rail 11 is controlled to move the scraper 32 assembly to the old blade collection box 14. The blade holder 33 releases the blade and it falls into the old blade collection box 14. Then it is moved to the vicinity of the new blade box to grab the new blade. After grabbing, the tilt angle of the blade holder 33 is controlled and it is conveyed to a specific position for the next scraping and collection operation.

[0048] S4. After a batch of slide clips 21 have been scraped and collected, the staff collects the samples and slide clips 21, and replaces the scraper blades 32 in the blade box.

[0049] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structural transformations made using the contents of the present invention's specification and drawings under the inventive concept of the present invention, or direct / indirect applications in other related technical fields, are included within the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A device for scraping paraffin-embedded tissue section samples, characterized in that, include: Chassis (1); The slide transfer device (2) is fixedly installed inside the chassis (1). The slide transfer device includes a slide clamp (21) and a slide clamp transfer component (22). The slide clamp (21) is used to place paraffin-embedded tissue slides. The slide clamp (21) is fixedly installed on the slide clamp transfer component (22). The scraping device (3) is horizontally and slidably disposed inside the housing (1). The scraping device (3) includes a scraping drive (31) and a scraping blade (32). The scraping drive (31) drives the scraping blade (32) to move up and down to scrape the paraffin-embedded tissue sections on the slide holder (21). The controller is electrically connected to the slide conveying device (2) and the scraping device (3) to control the operation of the slide conveying device (2) and the scraping device (3). The chassis (1) is horizontally provided with a slide rail (11) and a sliding rod (12). The sliding rod (12) is slidably disposed on the slide rail (11), and the scraper scraping device (3) is slidably disposed on the sliding rod (12) to adjust the position of the scraper (32) in the horizontal direction. The scraper scraping device (3) further includes a blade clamp (33), which is rotatably connected to the drive end of the scraper drive (31) and is used to clamp the scraper (32) and adjust its scraping angle. It also includes a slice collection device (4), which includes a collection tube (41) and a collection tube conveyor (42). The collection tube conveyor (42) is fixedly installed inside the chassis (1), and the collection tube (41) is placed on the collection tube conveyor (42) to collect the slices scraped off by the scraper blade (32). The slide holder (21) is provided with a barcode (211) corresponding to the tissue slide placed on the slide holder (21). The scraper scraping device (3) also includes a barcode detector (34). The controller is electrically connected to the barcode detector (34) to identify the barcode (211) and scrape the slide. If the slide holder (21) is from a different patient, the controller issues an instruction to replace the scraper (32). If the slide holder (21) is from the same patient, the scraper (32) is not replaced and the scraping operation continues. The chassis (1) is also equipped with a new blade collection box (13) and an old blade collection box (14), which are used to place new scraper blades and used scraper blades respectively, so that the scraper blades (32) can be replaced when the scraper blade scraping device (3) moves horizontally.

2. The paraffin-embedded tissue section sample scraping device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Both the slice clamp conveyor (22) and the collection tube conveyor (42) are conveyor belts.

3. The paraffin-embedded tissue section sample scraping device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The blade clamp (33) includes two opposing and spaced electromagnetic clamping blocks (331), each of which is electrically connected to a controller to control the electromagnetic clamping block (331) to be energized and de-energized.

4. The paraffin-embedded tissue section sample scraping device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The slice clamp (21) is provided with a locking block (212), and the slice clamp conveyor (22) is provided with a locking hole. The locking block and the locking hole are engaged to fix the slice clamp.

5. The paraffin-embedded tissue section sample scraping device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The slice clamp conveyor is also equipped with a magnetic component, and the slice clamp is made of iron so that the slice clamp is attracted to the slice clamp conveyor.

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