A test piece analyzer capable of easily washing a transport device to which the sample (urine sample) has adhered is provided. A test piece analyzer is provided with a transport unit having a transport device to transport a test piece, a drive part to drive the transport device, an imaging unit to image the test piece, and a casing to house the transport unit, imaging unit, and drive part. The transport unit is removable relative to the casing.

A microscope slide staining system has a chamber, a plurality of slide support elements, a plurality of spreading devices positionable in association with microscope slides supported on the slide support elements so the spreading devices define a gap between the spreading device and the microscope slide and so the spreading device and the microscope slide are movable relative to one another to spread at least one reagent on the microscope slide independent of the other spreading devices and microscope slides.

Load lock assemblies for a sample analysis system, such as a mass spectrometry system, include a load lock chamber having longitudinally opposing first and second end portions and a through channel, a door coupled to the second end portion, and a seal assembly coupled to the first end portion. The seal assembly includes a rigid seal housing member coupled to a housing of the load lock chamber. The rigid seal housing member includes a port forming part of the first end portion of the through channel of the load lock chamber. The rigid seal housing member can include a self-centering cartridge and/or a flexure member coupled to the housing of the load lock chamber. Where used, the flexure member has an outer perimeter that extends above and below the rigid seal housing member and includes an aperture that is aligned with the port of the rigid seal housing member.

An apparatus attaches to a microscope slide to form an enclosed fluidic chamber with input and output ports, where a tissue or cell sample on the slide can be processed using techniques such as immunohistochemical staining. Flow of reagents within the chamber can be laminar and highly uniform across the sample surface to achieve staining that is free of gradients. The sample can be imaged prior to, during, or after any given processing step. Methods for staining and imaging a sample can be implemented through one or more rounds of labeling, label removal or erasure and imaging. Samples can be imaged many times to achieve very high multiplexing levels. Samples can be placed on an imaging apparatus at various times and removed from the imaging apparatus for certain steps.

Devices and methods for providing and dispensing opposables onto slides are provided in which magazines loaded with opposables include retention arms to reduce movement of the opposables during shipment and processing and to reduce or eliminate contamination.

A stuck slide determination system is provided that determines if a slide (e.g., glass slide), positioned on a scanning stage at the start of the scanning process, gets stuck and does not move along with the scanning stage after the scanning process commences. In an embodiment, the system includes a sensor having a transmitter and receiver that are relatively positioned to detect the presence of the stage or a slide or the absence of the stage or a slide. When the scanning stage begins to move at the start of the scanning process, a processor monitors a signal from the sensor and determines if the slide is improperly positioned after the scanning process has commenced. If the slide is improperly positioned, the processor stops movement of the scanning stage in order to protect the slide from damage.

In the field of pathological anatomy, in particular the sector related to the reading of slides used in hospital departments, disclosed is an automated system for reading codes printed on the slides.

Methods and apparatus that enable drying and curing a plurality of specimens carried by a plurality of microscope slides. Slide carriers are positioned at a first position while the slide carrier holds the microscope slides. Each of the specimens can be carried by one of the microscope slides. The slide carrier can be robotically moved to move the slide carrier into a circulation loop defined by a heater apparatus. The specimens and/or microscope slides can be convectively heated while the slide carrier is located in the circulation loop.

Disclosed is a specimen smearing apparatus including: a slide supplying section configured to supply a glass slide yet to be processed; a first processing section configured to perform a first process on the glass slide, the first processing section being disposed in a first direction with respect to the slide supplying section, the first direction being a far direction of an apparatus body of the specimen smearing apparatus; a second processing section configured to perform on the glass slide a second process which is different from the first process, the second processing section being disposed in a second direction with respect to the first processing section, the second direction being a left-right direction of the apparatus body and orthogonal to the first direction; and a first drying processing section disposed in a third direction with respect to the second processing section, the third direction being a near direction of the apparatus body and opposite to the first direction, the first drying processing section configured to dry a specimen on the glass slide on which the first process and the second process have been performed, wherein one of the first processing section and the second processing section is configured to perform a smearing process for smearing a specimen on the glass slide.

A fully-automated biological slide specimen processing device and a method. The device mainly includes a testing assembly, a base platform, a Z-arm, an X-arm, a Y-arm, a dispensing nozzle and scanning devices for identifying a reagent and a specimen. The device in the present invention can automatically realize regular and quantitative dispensing according to testing process requirements and testing steps, automatically control the heating, automatically control liquid filling and liquid discharging, and realize full automation of the testing process. When the slide specimen needs a heat treatment, an insertion slot may be directly filled with liquid and be heated.