Automatic staining method for biological tissue sample section

Abstract

The invention provides an automatic dyeing method for biological tissue sample slices, which comprises the steps of automatic feeding, automatic dyeing, drying after dyeing and discharging, a feeding mechanism can clamp a microscope glass slide in a microscope glass slide vertical bracket on a feeding and discharging buffer mechanism and move the microscope glass slide into a dyeing tank for dyeing operation; the microscope glass slide is dyed in the dyeing tank, is dried in the dyeing drying mechanism, is put back into the microscope glass slide vertical bracket, and is discharged through the loading and unloading buffer mechanism. The microscope glass slide vertical placing support has the beneficial effects that the microscope glass slides can be uniformly separated during feeding by adopting the microscope glass slide vertical placing support, and the microscope glass slides can be separated and separated for dyeing by adopting the dyeing grooves matched with the single microscope glass slides; and the risk of cross contamination between microscope glass slides filled with biological tissue sample slices can be avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of biological tissue sample slice staining, and in particular to an automatic staining method for biological tissue sample slices. Background Art

[0002] In the existing biological sample analysis technology, the analysis methods commonly used include microscopic analysis, microarray analysis (e.g., protein and nucleic acid microarray analysis) and mass spectrometry. Preparing samples for these and other types of analysis usually includes: contacting the biological sample with a series of processing liquids. Some of these processing liquids (e.g., staining reagents and counterstaining reagents) can add colors and, in contrast or on the contrary, change the visual characteristics of invisible or difficult-to-see sample components (e.g., at least some types of cells and intracellular structures). Other processing liquids (e.g., deparaffinized liquids) can be used to achieve other processing purposes. If a variety of processing liquids are used to process the sample, the application and subsequent removal of various processing liquids can be very important for producing samples suitable for analysis. In some cases, processing samples with a variety of processing liquids includes: manually applying the processing liquids to microscope slides that carry the samples respectively. However, this method of manually processing samples tends to be labor-intensive and imprecise, so biological tissue sample section staining equipment has emerged.

[0003] The automatic staining and processing technology of biological tissue sample sections is an important step in the entire process of automated staining, drying and sealing of biological tissue samples. It is also an indispensable step. In order to make the processed biological tissue samples have an appearance that is easy to observe and to maintain the consistency and efficiency of the processing process, the staining step is an object that must be strictly controlled during the processing of biological tissue samples. The purpose of staining is to make different structures in cell tissues present different colors for easy observation. The classic hematoxylin and eosin (eosin) staining method is a routine staining for histological specimens and pathological section specimens, referred to as HE staining. After staining, the cell nucleus is stained purple-blue by hematoxylin, and most cytoplasm and non-cellular components are stained pink by eosin.

[0004] Existing methods for staining biological tissue sample sections can use biological tissue sample section staining equipment instead of manual staining. These machines automatically process samples by immersing a rack carrying a batch of microscope slides in an open bath of processing liquid. However, in existing methods for staining biological tissue sample sections, a batch of microscope slides with biological tissue sample sections are placed horizontally in a slide carrier box. Although there is a certain vertical space interval between each microscope slide, when performing the immersion staining operation, the entire box of microscope slides is processed together. Inevitably, there is a risk of cross-contamination between the microscope slides in the same box when the interval is immersed in the shared staining reagent. For example, cells from a biological tissue sample section can leave the sample on one microscope slide and move to another microscope slide in the shared staining reagent. This form of contamination greatly reduces the accuracy of certain types of sample analysis. Moreover, for a whole box of horizontally placed microscope slides, after immersion in the shared staining reagent, the osmotic pressure of the staining reagent on the upper microscope slide is lower than that on the lower microscope slide. Inevitably, there is a problem of uneven staining between the upper and lower microscope slides, resulting in poor consistency in the quality of the microscope slide products of the finally stained biological tissue sample sections and bringing a very bad user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To solve the problems in the prior art, the present invention provides an automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections. The loading mechanism can clamp the microscope slides in the microscope slide vertical placement bracket on the loading and unloading buffer mechanism and move them into the staining tank for staining operations. After the microscope slides complete the staining operations in the staining tank and are dried in the post-staining drying mechanism, they are placed back into the microscope slide vertical placement bracket and then discharged through the loading and unloading buffer mechanism. By using the microscope slide vertical placement bracket, each microscope slide can be evenly separated during loading. By using a staining tank that matches a single microscope slide, each microscope slide can be separated and stained separately, avoiding the risk of cross-contamination between the microscope slides with biological tissue sample sections, improving the quality of the microscope slide products of the biological tissue sample sections, eliminating the need for manual operation, saving time and effort and being less prone to errors, greatly improving the production efficiency of the microscope slide products of the biological tissue sample sections, improving the user experience, and solving the problems of cross-contamination risk and poor product consistency during staining in the existing methods for staining biological tissue sample sections.

[0006] An automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections of the present invention includes the following steps:

[0007] Step 1, automatic feeding: The translation feeding component of the feeding mechanism transports the microscope slide vertical holder with multiple microscope slides of biological tissue samples to the sample section feeding lifting component, and is transferred by the sample section feeding lifting component to the sample section feeding heating cavity for wax melting and heating. Then, it is conveyed by the translation feeding component to the loading and unloading buffer mechanism to wait for the staining operation. Meanwhile, the sample section feeding recognition camera near the loading and unloading buffer mechanism will recognize the label information of the microscope slide and feedback it to the main console of the automatic staining equipment for biological tissue samples;

[0008] Step 2, automatic staining: The microscope slide detection camera recognizes the microscope slide in the microscope slide vertical holder and feedbacks it to the main console. The automatic staining mechanism clamps the microscope slide in the microscope slide vertical holder on the loading and unloading buffer mechanism and moves it into the staining tank for staining operation according to the command information of the main console, and proceeds to the next process after the staining operation of the microscope slide is completed;

[0009] Step 3, drying after staining and discharging: After the staining operation of the microscope slide is completed, the automatic staining mechanism moves it into the slide drying tank for drying. After drying, it is placed back into the microscope slide vertical holder and then discharged through the loading and unloading buffer mechanism.

[0010] For further improvement of the present invention, in the above-mentioned Step 1, the automatic staining equipment for biological tissue samples includes a feeding mechanism, a loading and unloading buffer mechanism, an automatic staining mechanism, a reagent adding mechanism, a drying mechanism after staining, a reagent storage mechanism and a main console. The main console is controlled and connected to the feeding mechanism, the loading and unloading buffer mechanism, the automatic staining mechanism, the reagent adding mechanism, the drying mechanism after staining, and the reagent storage mechanism. The feeding mechanism is provided with a plurality of the microscope slide vertical holders. The feeding mechanism includes the translation feeding component, the sample section feeding lifting component, the sample section feeding heating cavity and the sample section feeding recognition camera. The automatic staining mechanism is provided with the staining tank, and the drying mechanism after staining is provided with the slide drying tank.

[0011] For further improvement of the present invention, in the above-mentioned Step 1, a plurality of microscope slides can be vertically and fixedly placed in an array in the microscope slide vertical holder with a gap between each microscope slide.

[0012] For further improvement of the present invention, in the above-mentioned Step 2, the staining tank is used for the staining operation of a single microscope slide, and the staining tank can be filled with staining reagents and is adapted to the microscope slide.

[0013] The present invention is further improved. In the step 1, the loading and unloading buffer mechanism can temporarily store a plurality of the vertical placement brackets for microscope slides transmitted by the loading mechanism, and after the microscope slides in the vertical placement brackets for microscope slides complete the staining operation and are placed back into the vertical placement brackets for microscope slides, it moves to the loading and unloading buffer mechanism to complete the discharging.

[0014] The present invention is further improved. In the step 2, the reagent adding mechanism is provided with a staining reagent extraction and discharge robotic arm, a staining reagent temporary storage assembly, and a staining reagent adding driving device. The staining reagent extraction and discharge robotic arm can extract the staining reagent in the staining reagent temporary storage assembly and move to the staining tank under the control instruction of the main control console and the drive of the staining reagent adding driving device to add supplementary staining reagent to the staining tank.

[0015] The present invention is further improved. In the step 2, the reagent storage mechanism is provided with a clean water storage assembly, a clean water pumping assembly, a staining reagent storage assembly, and a staining reagent pumping assembly. The clean water pumping assembly can extract the clean water in the clean water storage assembly for cleaning the staining tank and the slides. The staining reagent pumping assembly can extract the staining reagent in the staining reagent storage assembly to the staining reagent temporary storage assembly to supplement the staining reagent for the staining tank.

[0016] The present invention is further improved. In the step 2, the automatic staining mechanism is provided with a slide discharging and cleaning assembly which is filled with cleaning reagent. After the staining operation is completed, the microscope slides are cleaned by the slide discharging and cleaning assembly and then moved into the post-staining drying mechanism for the next process treatment.

[0017] The present invention is further improved. In the step 2, during the staining operation, each time the microscope slides complete the staining operation in the staining tank, they can be put into the slide discharging and cleaning assembly for cleaning once, and then placed into the next staining tank for staining operation according to the staining process.

[0018] The present invention is further improved. In the step 3, the post-staining drying mechanism is provided with a heating assembly and a slide drying tank. The heating assembly is provided with heating resistance sheets. The heating assembly can control the heating resistance sheets to generate heat according to the control instruction of the main control console, thereby heating the slide drying tank to dry the microscope slides that have completed staining and are placed in the slide drying tank. Finally, after being placed back into the vertical placement brackets for microscope slides, they are discharged through the loading and unloading buffer mechanism.

[0019] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: An automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections provided by the present invention. The feeding mechanism can clamp the microscope slide in the microscope slide vertical placement bracket on the loading and unloading buffer mechanism and move it into the staining tank for staining operations. After the microscope slide completes the staining operation in the staining tank and is dried in the post-staining drying mechanism, it is placed back into the microscope slide vertical placement bracket and then discharged through the loading and unloading buffer mechanism. By using the microscope slide vertical placement bracket, each microscope slide can be evenly separated during loading. The staining tank matching a single microscope slide can separate each microscope slide for staining operations, avoiding the risk of cross-contamination between microscope slides with biological tissue sample sections, improving the product quality of microscope slides for biological tissue sample sections, eliminating the need for manual operation, saving time and effort and being less prone to errors, greatly improving the production efficiency of microscope slides for biological tissue sample sections, enhancing the user experience, and solving the problems of cross-contamination risk and poor product consistency during staining in the existing staining methods for biological tissue sample sections. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 It is a flowchart of an automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and embodiments.

[0022] Please refer to Figure 1 , an automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections of the present invention includes the following steps:

[0023] Step 1: Automatic feeding. The translation feeding component of the feeding mechanism transports the microscope slide vertical placement bracket with multiple microscope slides of biological tissue sample sections to the sample section feeding lifting component, and is transferred by the sample section feeding lifting component to the sample section feeding heating cavity for heating and melting wax. Then, it is conveyed by the translation feeding component to the loading and unloading buffer mechanism to wait for the staining operation. At the same time, the sample section feeding identification camera near the loading and unloading buffer mechanism will identify the label information of the microscope slide and feedback it to the main console of the automatic staining device for biological tissue sample sections. In this embodiment, the automatic staining device for biological tissue sample sections includes a feeding mechanism, a loading and unloading buffer mechanism, an automatic staining mechanism, a reagent adding mechanism, a drying mechanism after staining, a reagent storage mechanism, and a main console. The main console is connected to the feeding mechanism, the loading and unloading buffer mechanism, the automatic staining mechanism, the reagent adding mechanism, the drying mechanism after staining, and the reagent storage mechanism for control. The feeding mechanism is provided with multiple microscope slide vertical placement brackets. The feeding mechanism includes a translation feeding component, a sample section feeding lifting component, a sample section feeding heating cavity, and a sample section feeding identification camera. The automatic staining mechanism is provided with a staining tank, and the drying mechanism after staining is provided with a slide drying tank. Multiple microscope slides can be vertically and fixedly placed in an array within the microscope slide vertical placement bracket, and each microscope slide is spaced apart; the loading and unloading buffer mechanism can temporarily store multiple microscope slide vertical placement brackets transmitted by the feeding mechanism, and after the microscope slides in the microscope slide vertical placement bracket complete the staining operation and are placed back in the microscope slide vertical placement bracket, it moves to the loading and unloading buffer mechanism to complete the discharging. Among them, the loading and unloading buffer mechanism greatly improves the processing efficiency of the entire biological tissue sample section staining device and improves the user experience.

[0024] Step 2: Automatic staining. The microscope slide detection camera in the automatic staining device identifies the microscope slide within the vertical microscope slide holder and feeds back to the main console. The automatic staining mechanism, according to the command information from the main console, clamps the microscope slide within the vertical microscope slide holder on the loading and unloading buffer mechanism and moves it into the staining tank for staining operations. After the staining operation of the microscope slide is completed, the next process is carried out. In this embodiment, the staining tank is used for single microscope slide staining operations. The staining tank can be filled with staining reagents and is adapted to the microscope slide. The reagent adding mechanism is equipped with a staining reagent pumping and discharging robotic arm, a staining reagent temporary storage component, and a staining reagent adding driving device. The staining reagent pumping and discharging robotic arm can extract the staining reagent from the staining reagent temporary storage component and, under the control command of the main console and the drive of the staining reagent adding driving device, move to the staining tank to add supplementary staining reagent to the staining tank, eliminating the need for manual operation, saving time and effort and being less prone to errors, greatly improving the production efficiency and product quality of the microscope slide products for biological tissue sample sections, and enhancing the user experience. The reagent storage mechanism is equipped with a clean water storage component, a clean water pumping component, a staining reagent storage component, and a staining reagent pumping component. The clean water pumping component can extract the clean water from the clean water storage component for cleaning the staining tank and the microscope slide. The staining reagent pumping component can extract the staining reagent from the staining reagent storage component to the staining reagent temporary storage component to replenish the staining reagent for the staining tank. The automatic staining mechanism is equipped with a slide discharging and cleaning component, which contains cleaning reagents. After the staining operation is completed, the microscope slide is cleaned by the slide discharging and cleaning component and then moved into the post-staining drying mechanism for the next process. During the staining operation, each time the microscope slide finishes the staining operation in the staining tank, it can be placed in the slide discharging and cleaning component for cleaning once, and then placed in the next staining tank according to the staining process for staining operations. Moreover, the osmotic pressure of the staining reagent received by each microscope slide immersed in the shared staining reagent is the same, and finally, the quality consistency of the microscope slide products for biological tissue sample sections stained is relatively good, improving the quality of the microscope slide products for biological tissue sample sections and enhancing the user experience.

[0025] Step 3: Post-staining drying and discharging. After the automatic staining mechanism completes the staining operation of the microscope slide, it moves the slide into the slide drying tank for drying. After drying is completed, it is placed back into the vertical microscope slide holder and then discharged through the loading and unloading buffer mechanism. In this embodiment, the post-staining drying mechanism is equipped with a heating component and a slide drying tank. The heating component is equipped with heating resistance sheets. The heating component can control the heating resistance sheets to generate heat according to the control command of the main console, thereby heating the slide drying tank and drying the microscope slide that has completed staining and is placed in the slide drying tank. Finally, after being placed back into the vertical microscope slide holder, it is discharged through the loading and unloading buffer mechanism.

[0026] As can be seen from the above, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: An automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections provided by the present invention. The feeding mechanism can clamp the microscope slide in the microscope slide vertical placement bracket on the loading and unloading buffer mechanism and move it into the staining tank for staining operations. After the microscope slide completes the staining operation in the staining tank and is dried in the post-staining drying mechanism, it is placed back into the microscope slide vertical placement bracket and then discharged through the loading and unloading buffer mechanism. By using the microscope slide vertical placement bracket, each microscope slide can be evenly separated during feeding. The staining tank matching a single microscope slide can separate each microscope slide for staining operations, avoiding the risk of cross-contamination between microscope slides with biological tissue sample sections, improving the quality of microscope slide products for biological tissue sample sections, eliminating the need for manual operation, saving time and effort and being less prone to errors, greatly improving the production efficiency of microscope slide products for biological tissue sample sections, enhancing the user experience, and solving the problems of cross-contamination risk and poor product consistency in the staining method of biological tissue sample sections in the prior art.

[0027] The specific embodiments described above are the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not limit the specific implementation scope of the present invention. The scope of the present invention includes but is not limited to this specific embodiment. All equivalent changes made in accordance with the present invention are within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for automatically staining biological tissue sample sections, characterized in that: The steps include: Step 1, automatic loading, the translation feeding component of the loading mechanism transports the microscope slide vertical bracket with multiple biological tissue sample slice microscope slides to the sample slice feeding lifting component, and is transferred to the sample slice feeding heating chamber by the sample slice feeding lifting component for heating and melting wax, and then transported to the loading and unloading buffer mechanism through the translation feeding component to wait for staining operation, and at the same time, the sample slice feeding recognition camera located near the loading and unloading buffer mechanism will recognize the label information of the microscope slide and feed it back to the main control console of the automatic staining device for biological tissue sample slices; Step 2, automatic staining, the microscope slide detection camera identifies the microscope slide in the microscope slide vertical holder and feeds back to the main console, the automatic staining mechanism clamps the microscope slide in the microscope slide vertical holder on the loading and unloading buffer mechanism according to the instruction information of the main console, moves the microscope slide in the microscope slide vertical holder into the staining tank for staining, and performs the next process after the microscope slide completes the staining operation; Step 3, drying and unloading after dyeing. After the microscope slide is dyed, the automatic dyeing mechanism moves it into the slide drying tank for drying. After drying, it is put back into the microscope slide vertical stand and then unloaded through the loading and unloading buffer mechanism.

2. The automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step 1, the automatic staining device for biological tissue sample slices includes a loading mechanism, a loading and unloading buffer mechanism, an automatic staining mechanism, a reagent adding mechanism, a post-staining drying mechanism, a reagent storage mechanism and a main control console, the main control console is controlled and connected with the loading mechanism, the loading and unloading buffer mechanism, the automatic staining mechanism, the reagent adding mechanism, the post-staining drying mechanism and the reagent storage mechanism, the loading mechanism is provided with a plurality of microscope slide vertical brackets, the loading mechanism includes the translation feeding assembly, the slice feeding lifting assembly, the sample slice feeding heating cavity and the sample slice feeding recognition camera, the automatic staining mechanism is provided with the staining trough, and the post-staining drying mechanism is provided with the slide drying trough.

3. The automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections according to claim 2, characterized in that: In step 1, the microscope slide vertical placement bracket can hold a plurality of microscope slides in an array and fixedly place the microscope slides in a vertical arrangement, and each microscope slide is spaced apart from each other.

4. The automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections according to claim 3, characterized in that: In step 2, the staining tank is used for staining a single microscope slide, and the staining tank can be filled with staining reagent and is compatible with the microscope slide.

5. The automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections according to claim 4, characterized in that: In step 1, the loading and unloading buffer mechanism can temporarily store the multiple microscope slide vertical racks transmitted by the loading mechanism, and after the microscope slides in the microscope slide vertical racks are stained and put back into the microscope slide vertical racks, they are moved to the loading and unloading buffer mechanism to complete the unloading.

6. The automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections according to claim 5, characterized in that: In step 2, the reagent adding mechanism is provided with a dyeing reagent extraction robot arm, a dyeing reagent temporary storage component and a dyeing reagent adding drive device. The dyeing reagent extraction robot arm can extract the dyeing reagent in the dyeing reagent temporary storage component and move to the dyeing tank to add supplementary dyeing reagent to the dyeing tank under the control command of the main console and the drive of the dyeing reagent adding drive device.

7. The automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections according to claim 6, characterized in that: In step 2, the reagent storage mechanism is provided with a clean water storage component, a clean water pumping component, a staining reagent storage component and a staining reagent pumping component. The clean water pumping component can extract clean water from the clean water storage component for cleaning the staining tank and the slide, and the staining reagent pumping component can extract the staining reagent from the staining reagent storage component to the staining reagent temporary storage component to replenish the staining reagent for the staining tank.

8. The automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step 2, the automatic staining mechanism is provided with a slide discharge cleaning component, and the slide discharge cleaning component is filled with cleaning reagents. After the staining operation is completed, the microscope slide is cleaned by the slide discharge cleaning component and then moved into the post-staining drying mechanism for the next step of processing.

9. The automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections according to claim 8, characterized in that: In step 2, during the staining process, the microscope slide can be placed in the slide discharge cleaning assembly for cleaning after each staining operation in the staining tank, and then placed in the next staining tank for staining according to the staining process.

10. The automatic staining method for biological tissue sample sections according to claim 9, characterized in that: In step 3, the post-dyeing drying mechanism is provided with a heating component and a slide drying tank. The heating component is provided with a heating resistor. The heating component can control the heating resistor to generate heat according to the control instructions of the main control console, thereby heating the slide drying tank. After the drying and dyeing are completed, the microscope slide is placed in the slide drying tank and finally put back into the microscope slide vertical bracket and then discharged through the loading and unloading buffer mechanism.

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