A tape for collecting tissue samples in a manner compatible with imaging in a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) system, includes a tape substrate having two side walls forming a trough. The trough is defined by a bottom surface of the tape substrate and internal surfaces of the side walls, with an open side therebetween. A support film is attached to a top surface of the tape substrate, and a plurality of apertures is spaced at predetermined locations along the length of the tape substrate, each aperture being covered by the support film. The tape includes a stacked configuration in which the tape substrate is wound in layers, the bottom surfaces of the side walls in one layer being in contact with the support film in an immediately adjacent layer. The apertures in the second layer are aligned within the trough of the first layer, between the side walls.

Sample preparation system and method which enable electron microscope observation of a sample slice with simple structure and process are provided. The sample preparation system includes at least one of a plasma treatment apparatus and a sputtering apparatus, as well as a slice collecting apparatus. The plasma treatment apparatus is configured to feed a resin tape in a plasma irradiation area to irradiate the resin tape with plasma, thereby continuously hydrophilizing the resin tape. The sputtering apparatus is configured to feed the resin tape in a sputtering area to continuously perform sputtering on the resin tape, thereby imparting conductivity to the resin tape. The slice collecting apparatus is configured to serially collect slices cut out from a sample onto the resin tape having been subjected to plasma treatment or sputtering.

A carrier strip having a plurality of areas for retaining anatomical pathology specimens may have a backing, a cover coupled to the backing along side regions located along opposite longitudinal edges of the carrier strip and along lateral intermediate regions positioned between each of the plurality of areas for retaining anatomical pathology specimens. The carrier strip may be configured to individually retain each of the anatomical pathology specimens in one of the plurality of areas for retaining anatomical pathology specimens between the backing and the cover. Diagnostic studies of anatomical pathology specimens may be facilitated by distributing a digital copy of an image of the specimen may be to a pathologist. A diagnosis may be received from the pathologist based on the digital image of the specimen.

An automated tissue section slicing, staining, and imaging system efficiently registers full-resolution tissue section images by applying scaled transformation matrices computed to register downsampled tissue section images to the full-resolution tissue section images.

A coated, highly transparent film based on cellulose triacetate, is proposed that includes a) a support film acting as support layer and a cellulose triacetate or a mixture of cellulose esters and cellulose triacetate as main component, the cellulose triacetate or mixture being defined by a haze value of <0.5%, measured on the cellulose triacetate or mixture drawn out to a film after having been dissolved in dichloromethane or acetone, and b) a multi-functional coating applied in a coating solution to one or both sides of the support film. A dissolver medium can also be used as an enclosure medium. The highly transparent films of the invention can be used as window film, sunglasses film, laminating film, furniture foil, enclosing film, slide film for microscopy, cover slip replacement film and/or protective film, adhesive to glass, wood, metal, ceramic, cellulose derivative films or plastics following incipient dissolution or heat treatment.

A tape for collecting tissue samples in a manner compatible with imaging in a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) system, includes a tape substrate having two side walls forming a trough. The trough is defined by a bottom surface of the tape substrate and internal surfaces of the side walls, with an open side therebetween. A support film is attached to a top surface of the tape substrate, and a plurality of apertures is spaced at predetermined locations along the length of the tape substrate, each aperture being covered by the support film. The tape includes a stacked configuration in which the tape substrate is wound in layers, the bottom surfaces of the side walls in one layer being in contact with the support film in an immediately adjacent layer. The apertures in the second layer are aligned within the trough of the first layer, between the side walls.

The present invention generally relates to methods by which glass, polycarbonate, cyclic olefin polymers (and co-polymers) and other heat and chemical resistant materials (and combinations) are utilized as a multi-well solid support vessel for the processing and testing of intact, fixed, paraffin or plastic embedded (IFPE) biological materials including, but not limited to, tissues, cells, and/or enriched body fluids.

A system and method for automated transfer of a tape segment onto the face of a tissue block to be thin sectioned by microtomy includes applying, to a carrier strip, a plurality of serially-spaced patches of sample tape having an adhesive outer surface, transporting the carrier strip along a path adjacent to and spaced from the exposed sample surface to position one of the patches of sample tape adjacent to and covering the exposed sample surface, adhering the one of the patches of sample tape to the exposed sample surface.

Microtome (1), comprising a blade (2) for cutting thin slices from a sample, a sample holder (3) for guiding the sample onto the blade (2), and a means (4) for receiving the thin slices, the means (4) being a tape (5) on which the thin slices are deposited, the tape (5) being unwound from a first holder (24) and wound up together with the thin slices onto a second holder (7), and scanning electron microscope having an electron detector, comprising a chamber and a sample supply means (12), the sample supply means (12) being formed to supply the thin slices located on the wound-up tape (5) to the electron detector and use of a magnetic tape (5) known from digital storage technology for the purpose of depositing and transporting of thin slices of samples in the above described microtome (1) and scanning electron microscope.

An automated tissue section slicing, staining, and imaging system efficiently registers full-resolution tissue section images by applying scaled transformation matrices computed to register downsampled tissue section images to the full-resolution tissue section images.