Pre-cooled Slide Microtome for Frozen Section Pathology
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current frozen section pathology methods are time-consuming, prone to operator skill errors, and produce inconsistent results due to issues like tissue striping, smearing, shattering, and non-parallel faces, which hinder rapid and accurate tissue examination in pathology.
Innovation Solution
A disposable microtome system that allows direct cutting of tissue sections on a flat, pre-cooled glass slide without the need for mounting on a chuck, using a cryostat, which reduces operator dependency and improves consistency by ensuring uniform section thickness and minimizing artifacts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If standard frozen section pathology methods are used with chuck mounting, then tissue sections can be obtained, but operator skill errors and inconsistent results occur due to tissue striping, smearing, shattering, and non-parallel faces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the chuck mounting step from the traditional frozen section process. By placing tissue directly on the pre-cooled slide surface, the system removes the intermediate chuck that causes tissue handling errors, striping, and smearing artifacts, thereby improving both section uniformity and diagnostic consistency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the traditional pathology process into distinct functional components: direct tissue placement on slide, separate freezing step, and sectioning step. This segmentation allows each step to be optimized independently, with the slide serving simultaneously as both mounting surface and cutting support, eliminating the propagation of errors from chuck mounting
2Measurement precision
If traditional pathology processing is used, then comprehensive tissue examination is possible, but the process is time-consuming taking several hours to a few days
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary cooling to the slide surface before tissue placement, creating a pre-prepared substrate that enables immediate freezing and sectioning. This preliminary action eliminates the need for subsequent thawing and remounting steps, reducing total processing time while preserving diagnostic accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the mounting function and cutting support function into a single pre-cooled slide system. By combining these functions, the system eliminates multiple handling steps and reduces processing time from hours to minutes while maintaining the ability to produce high-quality diagnostic sections
3Ease of manufacture
If manual chuck mounting and sectioning are performed, then tissue sections can be obtained, but high operator skill is required and results are inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-cooled slide surface provides self-adhesive properties that automatically secure tissue placement without requiring skilled manual manipulation. The slide itself serves as both the mounting substrate and the cutting support, eliminating the need for operator-dependent chuck mounting techniques and reducing skill requirements while simplifying the overall preparation process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the pathology process, reduces operator skill requirements, and enhances the quality of tissue sections by eliminating common artifacts, enabling faster and more reliable microscopic evaluation of tissue samples.
Implementation Method 1
A disposable microtome system that allows direct cutting of tissue sections on a flat, pre-cooled glass slide without the need for mounting on a chuck, using a cryostat
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method for faster pathology are provided that removes the need for time consuming preparation of a hardened tissue block. Such hardening is necessary to enable cutting of the thin tissue sections required for pathology evaluation. Rather the tissue specimen is hardened by freezing only at the surface from which tissue is to be sectioned by contact with a cold surface or slide thereby lessening the time required for hardening. Sectioning is performed by passing a cutting member such as a blade, cutting wire or laser along a plane parallel to the cold surface and using the cold surface as a guide.