Abstract
The invention relates to a container for containing tissue, comprising at least one receiving space for tissue and at least one information surface for arranging data, wherein the information can be arranged by means of a laser. The invention also comprises a device provided with a laser for arranging information on such a container. The invention moreover also comprises a method for arranging information on such a container using a laser.
Claims
1. A method for arranging data on a container for containing tissue material derived from humans, animals or plants, said container comprising at least one receiving space for tissue, the receiving space comprising a plurality of fluid-access recesses in the form of a grating, through which fluids from outside the container can come into contact with the tissue material within the receiving space and leave the receiving space, and at least one information surface for arranging said data, the data comprising at least the source of the tissue sample, wherein the entire container is manufactured from an electromagnetic radiation colorable material, the method comprising the steps of positioning the information surface of the container and an electromagnetic radiation source relative to each other, and arranging said data on the information surface by selective activation of said electromagnetic radiation colorable material by said electromagnetic radiation source, wherein the electromagnetic radiation colorable material comprises a radiation-absorbing pigment that makes is possible to absorb the electromagnetic radiation efficiently resulting in an accelerated coloring of the electromagnetic radiation colorable material, and wherein the positioning of the electromagnetic radiation source is controlled from a database comprising said data, and wherein the data is arranged such as to be non-erasable when exposed to repeated chemical treatments with chemicals for fixing and coloring tissue cells.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the container is provided with a reference, and the position of the information surface is determined by its position relative to the known position of the reference.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the container further comprises a releasable closing member coupled to the at least one receiving space, the closing member having a plurality of fluid-access recesses in the form of a grating.
4. The method as in claim 1, wherein the data is arranged such as to be non-erasable when exposed to repeated chemical treatments with organic solvents selected from among formaldehyde, xylene, acetone, ethyl alcohol, and isopropyl alcohol.
5. The method as in claim 1, wherein the data is arranged such as to be non-erasable when exposed to repeated chemical treatments with paraffin or hot wax.
6. The method as in claim 1, wherein the colourable material is formed substantially from polyacetal.
7. The method as in claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic radiation source comprises a YAG laser.
8. The method as in claim 1, wherein the at least one information surface is provided across the entire container.
9. The method as in claim 1, wherein the radiation-absorbing pigment comprises antimony trioxide.
10. A method for pretreating a tissue material isolated from humans, animals or plants, for microscopic examination, the method comprising: providing a container at least one receiving space for tissue material, the receiving space comprising a plurality of fluid-access recesses in the form of a grating, through which fluids from outside the container can come into contact with the tissue material within the receiving space and leave the receiving space, and at least one information surface for arranging said data, the data comprising at least the source of the tissue sample, wherein the entire container is manufactured from an electromagnetic radiation colorable material; providing said container with a tissue material; and exposing both the tissue and the container to diverse chemicals in order to for instance fix and color the cells in the tissue.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising cutting the tissue material into slices for use under a microscope.
Description
[0021] The invention will now be further elucidated on the basis of several non-limitative embodiments.
[0022] FIGS 1a-c show diverse containers for tissue according to the invention.
[0023] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a device for arranging information on containers according to the invention.
[0024] FIG. 1a shows a container 1 for tissue according to the invention. Tissue container 1 is provided with a releasable closing element 2 provided with clamping members 3, with which closing element 2 can be snapped fixedly onto a receiving space 4 of container 1 as according to the dotted lines in order to close the container such that tissue (not shown) placed in receiving space 4 is held inside receiving space 4. Such a container 1 can otherwise also be used without closing element 2. Both closing element 2 and base 5 of receiving space 4 are provided with recesses 6, whereby media, in particular liquids and gases, have free access to tissue placed in receiving space 4. Tissue in receiving space 4 can hereby be treated for diverse purposes. In histology and pathology the tissue is for instance treated with diverse liquid chemicals as part of the sample preparation whereby tissue is for instance made suitable for microscopic examination. Since a plurality of tissue samples is usually treated simultaneously during sample preparation, it is important to be able to distinguish the tissue containers. For this purpose tissue container 1 is provided with an information surface 7 on which are arranged data 8 relating to the tissue placed in container 1. In addition to for instance numbers and letters, these data can also comprise alternative representations of data, such as for instance a bar code. It is generally known to arrange such data 8 using ink, applied using for instance a pen or a printer. A drawback is however that data 8 applied using ink, for instance during the sample preparation, can become difficult to read. The container for tissue 1 shown here does not however have this problem, since the entire container is manufactured from a laser-colourable plastic. Data 8 are burnt into the laser-colourable plastic using electromagnetic radiation of a suitable wavelength. The data 8 arranged in this manner are found to be very difficult to erase. The data are even found able to withstand repeated chemical treatments with diverse solvents such as are applied in histology and pathology. The data 8 can be arranged using an automated marking device provided with a laser. To enable automatic arrangement of data 8, the information surface 7 is provided with a dark-coloured reference border 9 which can be recognized by detection means of the automated marking device, so that the laser applies the data 8 to the part of information surface 7 located inside reference border 9.
[0025] FIG. 1b) shows a second container for tissue 10, similar to container 1 of FIG. 1a). This tissue container is also provided with a releasable closing element 11, or cover 11, and recesses 12 for admitting liquid and gaseous media to receiving space 13 of tissue container 10. This container 10 is also manufactured wholly from a plastic which can be coloured by electromagnetic radiation. An information surface 14 is placed on releasable cover 11 for the purpose of arranging data 15. To enable localization of the information surface by optical detection equipment, a reference bar 16 is also arranged on information surface 14. The plastic which can be coloured by electromagnetic radiation from which container 10 is manufactured is mixed with a radiation-absorbing pigment, whereby less radiation is necessary to cause sufficient colouring of the plastic, so that arranging of data 15 can take place more quickly. The coloured data 15 moreover have an improved colour contrast with the parts of information surface 14 not exposed to radiation.
[0026] FIG. 1c) shows a third container 20 for tissue according to the invention, similar to the tissue containers of FIGS. 1a) and 1b). Closing cover 21 is connected hingedly to the rest of container 20 and is provided with a flexible closing means 22. The container is provided with two separate receiving spaces 23, 24 for tissue, which can both be closed off by the closing cover 21 so that tissue is held inside receiving spaces 23, 24. In contrast to the containers shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b, in this container 20 only the information surface 25 is provided with a material which can be coloured by electromagnetic radiation. The surface of information surface 25 consists of a laminate of a dark-coloured thin layer 26 which is arranged on the underlying light-coloured plastic 27. For the sake of clarity the dark-coloured layer is here shown relatively too thick. By selectively burning away the dark layer 26 with a laser beam, the underlying light-coloured material 27 becomes visible. In this manner data 28 can be arranged on information surface 25. The dark-coloured layer 26 and light-coloured layer 27 can of course be replaced by any other two contrasting colours so as to achieve an effective result. The advantage compared to other materials which can be coloured by electromagnetic radiation is that a much greater flexibility results for the colours and colour combinations of information surface 25 and the data 28 arranged hereon.
[0027] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a device 40 for arranging information on containers according to the invention. Device 40 comprises a hopper 41 in which a plurality of tissue containers 42 according to the invention is stacked. Using a conveyor 43 the tissue containers 42 are supplied to a marking device 44 which is provided with a laser 45 and a detection member 46 with which the position of a supplied tissue container 42 relative to laser 45 is determined. Laser 44 arranges data 47 in the form of letters, numbers and/or a bar code on tissue container 42. Arranging data using a laser 45 is quicker than a similar process using a plotter or printer, and a higher graphic resolution is also relatively easy to achieve. Marking device 44 is also provided with input means 48, such as a keyboard or a bar code reader, for inputting data 47, a storage medium 49 in which data 47 can be held, for instance in the form of a database, and a display 50 for displaying data 47. Device 40 makes it possible to arrange data 47 on containers according to the invention in relatively rapid manner
[0028] It will be apparent that many variations and applications are still possible within the scope of the invention for a skilled person in the field.
