Device suitable for retrieving histological slides and / or biological cartridges

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (1) adapted to retrieve histological slides and / or biological cassettes previously placed in rows and / or columns in an ordered manner in a cassette (CL) by means of a centralized electronic archive system, comprising: a carrying structure (SC, SL1, SL2) and a base (2), a reversible blocking device (3) for a file box (CL) resting on a working surface for the bearing structure and comprising slides and / or biological boxes, where the file box and the slides and / or biological boxes comprise an automatically readable identification code; a saddle (4) associated with the load-bearing structure by means of bidirectional translation, and a head (5) associated with the saddle (4) by means of bidirectional rotation; a first reader (6) adapted to automatically acquire said identification code of the box (CL); a laser pointer (7) adapted to emit a light beam; an interface device (8) comprising hardware and / or software means for translation of the saddle (4) and rotation of the head (5). The interface device (8) is adapted to cooperate with a first automatic code reader (6) and a centralized electronic archive system. A laser pointer (7) is operated to identify the location occupied by slides and / or biological assets within a file box (CL) arranged on a base (2) and to visually indicate the location occupied by one of the slides and / or biological boxes to be retrieved from within the file box (CL).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention is directed to the technical field of medical devices that can be used in procedures for archiving biopsy samples.

[0002] More in detail, the present invention relates to a device suitable for retrieving histological slides and / or biological cassettes contained in archival cassettes. Background Art

[0003] In a hospital setting, biopsy samples need to be archived and stored so that subsequent clinical evaluation can be performed after these samples are retrieved.

[0004] In the current hospital procedures for archiving and storing biopsy specimens, slides and / or biopsy cassettes containing the specimens are first inserted into specific modular archival cassettes where they are arranged in rows or rows and columns in an orderly manner, and then these archival cassettes are inserted into specific cabinets for short-term, medium-term, or long-term storage.

[0005] The insertion of slides and / or biocassettes into archival boxes and the insertion of archival boxes into storage cabinets are managed by an automatic or semi-automatic system through an electronic program that remembers the filing position of each single specimen, thus ensuring the correct sequencing of the processed specimens and facilitating their retrieval when necessary. Summary of the invention

[0006] Industrial invention patent prior application No. 102019000012333, filed on July 19, 2019 in the name of the owner of the present application, describes a program for archiving and tracking cytological histological slides and histological biological boxes, capable of assisting operators during the archiving or retrieval process of slides and / or biological boxes, providing them with interactive communication about the position occupied by said slides and / or said biological boxes in the corresponding archival boxes and storage cabinets.

[0007] The drawback of this procedure is that it requires the operator to identify the position occupied by the slides and / or biological boxes involved in the retrieval procedure in the archive box, so the execution time is long and the possibility of errors in detecting the position and retrieving the slides and / or biological boxes from the archive box is also high.

[0008] It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned negative aspects.

[0009] The object of the invention is achieved by a device for retrieving histological slides and / or biological cassettes according to the main independent claim 1 .

[0010] Further characteristics of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

[0011] The device for retrieving histological slides and / or biological cassettes according to the invention has the following important advantages:

[0012] - Through a selectively directable and activatable laser pointer, it allows visually indicating to the operator the exact slide and the exact biocassette to be retrieved;

[0013] - a light beam emitted by said laser pointer which allows to accelerate the operation of retrieving said slide and said biological cartridge;

[0014] - through the laser pointer, it allows limiting human errors in the recognition of the filing positions occupied by the slides and the biological cassettes in the archival cassette;

[0015] By means of the laser beam, there is no need to stick row and column identification marks on the file box, thus avoiding the risk of inaccurate reading, deletion and disclosure of sensitive data. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Further features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the more detailed description set out below, with the aid of the accompanying drawings showing preferred embodiments illustrated by way of non-limiting examples, in which:

[0017] - Figure 1-2 The external and internal structural configurations of the device for retrieving histological slides and / or biological cassettes according to the present invention are shown in an axonometric view and an exploded axonometric view, respectively;

[0018] - Figure 3-4 The construction details of the components of the device are shown in an axonometric view and an exploded axonometric view respectively;

[0019] - Figure 5-6 -7 shows the operating phase of the device in an axonometric view. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] See also Figure 1-2 7 and 8, a device 1 suitable for retrieving histological slides and / or biological cassettes according to the present invention comprises essentially:

[0021] - a bearing structure of the bridge type, defined by a horizontally extending central portion SC, comprised between the top of a first lateral portion SL1 and a top of a second lateral portion SL2 extending vertically;

[0022] - a base 2 for resting on a work surface, comprising, between the base of the first transverse portion SL1 and the base of the second transverse portion SL2 of the bridge structure, reversible blocking means 3 of an archive cassette CL for slides and / or biological cassettes, wherein said archive cassette and said slides and / or biological cassettes comprise respective automatically readable identification codes;

[0023] - a saddle 4 associated with said bearing structure, in particular with said central portion SC of the bridge structure, by means of bidirectional translation;

[0024] - a head 5 associated with said saddle 4 by means of a bidirectional rotating device;

[0025] a first automatic code reader 6 of the identification code of the archive cassette CL and a laser pointer 7 for emitting a laser beam for visually indicating the slides and / or biological cassettes present in said archive cassette, wherein said first code reader 6 and laser pointer 7 are advantageously both arranged on the head 5;

[0026] An interface device 8 comprising hardware and / or software means suitable for managing the translation of the saddle 4 and the rotation of the head 5 , the activation of the first code reader 6 and the laser pointer 7 and the connection to the centralized electronic archival system.

[0027] Preferably, the interface device 8 is a portable electronic device of the smartphone or tablet type, equipped with a touch screen and wireless connectivity according to the prior art.

[0028] See also Figure 3-4 -5-6 details, the bidirectional translation device of the saddle 4 includes:

[0029] - a slide 9 , arranged on top of the saddle 4 , slidingly associated with a linear guide 10 , included in the central portion SC of the bridge structure;

[0030] - a worm 11 stably associated with said saddle 4 , operatively connected to a lead screw 12 operated by an electric motor 13 with reversible rotation, included in the central portion SC of the bridge structure, suitable for determining the linear and bidirectional translation of the saddle 4 along the linear guide 10 ;

[0031] A cable chain 14 , containing power cables and / or interconnection cables of the components of the installation 1 , is arranged between the bridge structure and the saddle 4 .

[0032] Preferably, the electric motor 13 is an electric stepper motor.

[0033] See also Figure 3-4 - Details of 5-6, the bidirectional rotating device of the head 5 includes:

[0034] An electric servomotor 15 , arranged on the saddle 4 , suitable for determining a partial rotation of the first code reader 6 and of the laser pointer 7 about a longitudinal axis parallel to the linear guide 10 .

[0035] See also Figure 1-2 and 7, the first lateral portion SL1 of the bridge-type load-bearing structure comprises:

[0036] - A second reader 16 of the identification code of the slide and / or the biological cassette.

[0037] See also Figure 1-2 In detail, the second transverse part SL2 of the bridge-type bearing structure comprises:

[0038] - a compartment 17 for housing a tool U for gripping and manipulating slides and / or biological cassettes;

[0039] - a shelf 18 for holding the interface device 8;

[0040] - Device 19 for wireless inductive charging of the interface device 8 .

[0041] See also Figure 1-2 and 7 details, the central part SC of the bridge structure includes:

[0042] - a housing 20, open at the bottom, fixed to a fixing plate 21 arranged between the first lateral portion SL1 and the second lateral portion SL2 of the bridge structure;

[0043] Visual indicator means 22 of the operating conditions of the device 1 , housed in corresponding seats 23 situated at the top of the housing 20 .

[0044] Preferably, the visual indicator means 22 comprises a plurality of multi-colored LEDs adapted to change their color based on the performance of a sample retrieval operation.

[0045] Detailed Description of the Operation of the Invention

[0046] Through the interface device 8, the operator receives various information from the centralized electronic archive system, including information related to the following:

[0047] - The location of the storage cabinet containing the archive cassettes CL containing the biopsy samples of interest;

[0048] - the position occupied by the file box CL in the storage cabinet;

[0049] - The position occupied by the sample inside the archive box CL.

[0050] The operator takes the illustrated archive box CL from the storage cabinet, inserts it into the retrieval device 1 and arranges it on the reversible blocking means 3 of the base 2 and then starts the procedure of retrieving the biopsy sample from the archive box CL via the interface device 8 .

[0051] Based on the information of the centralized electronic archive system, the interface device 8 controls the activation of the electric motor 13 and the servomotor 15 to determine the translation of the saddle 4 on the linear guide 10 and the rotation of the head 5 on the saddle 4, so as to orient the first automatic code reader 6 in the direction of the identification code placed on the archive box CL and activate the first automatic code reader 6 so as to find it, as shown in FIG. Figure 5-6 -7.

[0052] If the archive box CL is not found, the interface device 8 interrupts the retrieval procedure and informs the operator of the error situation, activating the visual indicator means 22 located on the top of the housing 20 of the central part SC of the device 1.

[0053] If the archive cassette CL is found, based on the information of the centralized electronic archive system, the interface device 8 activates the electric motor 13 and the servomotor 15 again to determine the translation of the saddle 4 on the linear guide 10 and the rotation of the head 5 on said saddle 4, so as to orient and activate the laser pointer 7 to direct the light beam to a specific slide or a specific biological cassette containing the biopsy sample of interest, thereby providing the operator with a visual indication of the position occupied within the archive cassette CL, such as Figure 5-6 -7.

[0054] The operator retrieves the slide or biological cassette indicated by the laser pointer 7 through one of the gripping and handling tools U housed in the compartment 17 of the transverse part SL2 of the device 1 and verifies it through the second code reader 16 arranged on the transverse part SL1 of the device 1 .

[0055] If the verification of the slide or biological cassette is positive, the interface device 8 completes the retrieval procedure and returns the device 1 to the initial idle state, or continues to indicate the location of subsequent samples to be taken from the same archival cassette.

[0056] If the verification of the slide or the biological cassette is negative, the interface device 8 interrupts the retrieval procedure and informs the operator of the error condition, activating the visual indicator means 22 located on the top of the housing 20 of the central part SC of the device 1 .

[0057] According to a more complex possible variant of the invention, the interface device 8 can use information detectable by a second automatic code reader 16 to activate the electric motor 13 and the servomotor 15 with the aim of orienting and activating the laser pointer 7 in the direction of a specific compartment of the archive box CL from which the slide or the specific biological box previously removed is to be reinserted.

[0058] According to a further possible variant of the invention, even more complex, the interface device 8 may be replaced by a control panel physically integrated in the central portion SC of the device 1 or in one of the lateral portions SL1 , SL2 .

Claims

1. Device (1) suitable for retrieving, by means of a centralized electronic archival system, histological slides and / or biological cassettes previously placed in an archival cassette (CL) in an orderly manner in rows and / or columns, characterized in that It includes: Load-bearing structure (SC, SL1, SL2); a base 2, intended to rest on a working surface for said supporting structure (SC, SL1, SL2), comprising reversible blocking means (3) for an archival cassette (CL) of slides and / or biological cassettes, wherein said archival cassette and said slides and / or biological cassettes comprise an automatically readable identification code; A saddle (4) is associated with the bearing structure via a bidirectional translation device; a head (5) associated with the saddle (4) by a bidirectional rotating device; a first reader (6) adapted to automatically acquire said identification code of the archive box (CL); a laser pointer (7) adapted to emit a light beam; an interface device (8) comprising hardware and / or software means suitable for managing the translation of said saddle (4) and the rotation of said head (5), Wherein, the interface device (8) is suitable for cooperating with the first automatic code reader (6) and the centralized electronic archival system to identify the position occupied by the slides and / or biological assets in the archival box (CL) arranged on the base (2) of the device (1) and operate the laser pointer (7) to emit a light beam, which is suitable for visually indicating the position occupied by one of the slides and / or biological boxes to be retrieved from the archival box (CL).

2. The device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that The load-bearing structure comprises a bridge structure including a horizontally extending central portion (SC) disposed between the top of a vertically extending first lateral portion (SL1) and the top of a second lateral portion (SL2).

3. The device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that The bidirectional translation device comprises: a slider (9), arranged on top of the saddle (4), slidably connected to a linear guide (10), included in the central part (SC) of the bridge structure; a worm (11) stably associated with said saddle (4), operatively connected to a lead screw (12) operated by an electric motor (13) with reversible rotation, included in the central part (SC) of the bridge structure, suitable for determining the linear and bidirectional translation of the first code reader (6) and the laser pointer (7) along said linear guide (10); A cable chain (14), containing power cables and / or interconnection cables of components of the installation (1), is arranged between the bridge structure and the saddle (4).

4. The device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that The head (5) comprises the first reader (6) and the laser pointer (7).

5. The device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that The bidirectional rotation device comprises an electric servomotor (15) arranged on the saddle (4) and suitable for determining a partial rotation of the first code reader (6) and the laser pointer (7) around the longitudinal axis of the supporting structure (SC, SL1, SL2).

6. The device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that Said first transverse portion (SL1) of the bridge structure comprises a second reader (16) of the identification code of the slide and / or the biological cartridge.

7. The device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that Said second lateral portion (SL2) of the bridge structure comprises a compartment (17) for accommodating a tool (U) for gripping and manipulating slides and / or biological cassettes.

8. The device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that The second lateral portion (SL2) of the bridge structure comprises a shelf (18) for holding an interface device (8).

9. The device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that The second transverse section (SL2) of the bridge structure comprises a charging device (19) for the interface device (8).

10. The device 1 according to claim 2, characterized in that The central part (SC) of the bridge structure comprises visual indicator means (22) of the operating conditions of the device (1).

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