Specimen Slide Ejection via Cracking Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing specimen processing systems face issues such as liquid carryover leading to contamination, misalignment of slides due to adhesive bonds with slide carriers, and the need for manual loading and alignment of slides.
Innovation Solution
The system employs a cracking element to break the adhesive bond between slides and slide carriers, allowing for horizontal alignment and damage-free ejection of slides. A slide ejector engages the slides to push them onto a staging device, where sensors detect the slide's presence and alignment is corrected using aligning members and actuators. The system also includes a label reader for automated processing based on slide labels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If slides are processed in batches by submerging racks in open baths, then processing efficiency is improved, but liquid carryover between containers leads to contamination and degradation of processing liquids
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the processing into separate sealed containers for each liquid reagent, preventing carryover between different processing solutions while maintaining batch processing capability. Each container is independently sealed and accessed through controlled dispensing mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces sealed containers as intermediaries between the slide racks and processing liquids. These containers act as controlled interfaces that allow liquid transfer while preventing direct contact and carryover between different reagent baths.
2Ease of manufacture
If slides undergo external processing such as drying and deparaffinization, then specimen preparation is improved, but wax melts and bonds to the slide carrier, hindering ejection and causing misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary heating within the sealed container to melt the wax adhesive before slide ejection. This controlled pre-heating softens the wax bond, allowing slides to be easily removed without damage or misalignment after the bonding process is complete.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the temperature parameter of the sealed container to control the wax bonding and release cycles. Heating to melting point facilitates bonding, while subsequent cooling solidifies the bond, and controlled re-heating enables clean release.
3Manufacturing precision
If manual loading of slides onto individual platforms is used, then alignment can be achieved, but automation and processing speed are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables slides to self-align through gravity-assisted positioning on inclined surfaces and self-leveling mechanisms within the sealed container. This eliminates the need for manual alignment while maintaining precision, allowing automated handling of slides throughout the process.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure presents systems and methods for processing a specimen slide using a specimen processing system. Specimen slides may sequentially be ejected from a slide carrier towards a label reader to determine an appropriate processing protocol for the slides. A cracking element may be engaged with the slide carrier prior to ejecting the slide, in order to break or “crack” any residual adhesive bond between edges of a slide and walls of the carrier. The specimen slides may be horizontally aligned and resting on a corresponding plurality of flat shelves, enabling even spacing via gravitational forces. The slides are therefore evenly spaced, enabling damage-free ejection of slides, and proper positioning for additional operations including scanning, viewing, heating, washing, and other processing. The label reader may process scanned information from the label of the slide to determine one or more attributes of the slide, and to generate an order or sequence of operations to be thereafter performed on the slide.