Arrangement having a specimen plate and a transparent marking frame

Abstract

The invention relates to an arrangement having a specimen plate (1) for freezing on a sample for processing in a microtome, which has an upper side (4) for freezing on the sample and a lower side (5), and having a transparent marking frame (6), having opaque regions forming a marking, which is arranged on the specimen plate (1); and to a method for assigning a sample after freezing onto that specimen plate; and to a method for identifying a sample that is frozen onto that specimen plate (1), the marking frame being arranged on the lower side (5) of the specimen plate (1) or so as to fit around the specimen plate (1).

Claims

1. A method for assigning a sample to a specimen plate for freezing on the sample for processing in a microtome, the method comprising the steps of: providing an arrangement comprising the specimen plate having an upper side for freezing on the sample and a lower side, and the specimen plate further having a shank on the lower side thereof, and a transparent marking frame arranged on the specimen plate, the marking frame having opaque regions forming a marking, wherein the opaque regions forming the marking proceed in a circumferential direction on the transparent marking frame, wherein the transparent marking frame is arranged on the lower side of the specimen plate and surrounds the shank of the specimen plate; illuminating the transparent marking frame on the specimen plate by light irradiation from a light source; detecting the marking by means of a light sensor, wherein the marking is detectable by the light sensor at any point in a circumferential direction on the transparent marking frame; and creating an assignment between the sample and the marking.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the assignment is created before or after freezing the sample onto the specimen plate.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the assignment in only explicitly deletable fashion.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein creation of an assignment is rejected and a warning message is issued if an assignment of the sample or the specimen plate already exists.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the warning message is entered into a log and the log is stored.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of identifying the sample on the basis of the assignment.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transparent marking frame is permanently arranged on the specimen plate.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the specimen plate is radially symmetric.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transparent marking frame is annularly shaped.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transparent marking frame is made at least in part of plastic or glass.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transparent marking frame has a rectangular cross section.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the marking comprises concentric circles.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the concentric circles form a colored pattern, a light/dark pattern, and/or a grayscale pattern.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the transparent marking frame is received into a recess in the specimen plate.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the marking is etched and/or printed on the transparent marking frame.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING VIEWS

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view, obliquely from above, of a preferred embodiment of an arrangement according to the present invention having a specimen plate and a marking frame;

(2) FIG. 2 is a perspective view, obliquely from below, of the arrangement of FIG. 1;

(3) FIG. 3 is a perspective section view, obliquely from above, of the arrangement of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 4 is a perspective view, obliquely from below, of a portion of a preferred embodiment of an arrangement according to the present invention while a preferred embodiment of a method according to the present invention is being carried out; and

(5) FIG. 5 is plan view of the arrangement of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) A preferred embodiment of an arrangement according to the present invention having a specimen plate and a marking frame will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

(7) A radially symmetrical, disk-shaped specimen plate for freezing on a sample for processing in a microtome is depicted in FIGS. 1 to 5 and labeled 1. This specimen plate 1 has, in an axial direction, an upper side 4 and a lower side 5. Specimen plate 1 has several concentric elevations 2 on upper side 4, this being particularly visible in FIGS. 1 and 3. This is advantageous in terms of good adhesion of a frozen-on sample onto specimen plate 1. Specimen plate 1 has, in a radial direction, a notch 3 that serves for lateral orientation of the tissue sample upon sectioning with the microtome.

(8) The specimen plate comprises, on its lower side 5, an annular transparent marking frame 6. The latter is embodied in particular from plastic or glass and has a rectangular cross section, as is evident from FIG. 3. It surrounds or clamps around a shank 40 of specimen plate 1. Frame 6 comprises on the lower side a marking that is constituted by a radially symmetrical coded pattern. The latter is made up here of concentric opaque circles 6a, 6c between or next to which transparent regions 6b, 6d are located. The opaque regions are preferably printed or etched onto the frame. Concentric circles 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d here form, for example, a colored pattern, a light/dark pattern, or a grayscale pattern. For example, a first circle 6a is blue, a second circle 6b is transparent and colorless, a third circle 6c is red, and a fourth circle 6d is transparent and colorless. The radial extents of the individual circles 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d can also differ. By varying, for example, the colors and spacings of the concentric circles it is possible to differentiate a large number of specimen plates, and each specimen plate can be individually identified and assigned to a specific sample. Conversely, an assigned sample can be identified by way of the marking.

(9) An embodiment of a method according to the present invention for assigning a sample after freezing onto a specimen plate will now be described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 depicts, in addition to the arrangement made up of specimen plate 1 and marking frame 6, a light source 30 and a light sensor 20. When light is irradiated (in this case, laterally) by means of light source 30 into transparent frame 6, the marking on the transparent frame lights up in such a way that it is detectable or readable by light sensor 20, which is located below frame 6 and spans a portion of frame 6 in a radial direction. The marking is thus detected by light sensor 20.

(10) In the next step, an assignment is created—for instance, noted or stored in a database—between the read-out marking and the sample. This can be accomplished, for example, in computer-controlled fashion by the fact that a user is prompted to input a designation for the sample on a keypad, or to scan the barcode supplied with the sample, for instance the code applied onto the sample transport vessel. A computer program, for instance, then stores an assignment of the read-out marking to the designation for the sample.

(11) Preferably the assignment is stored in only explicitly deletable fashion, i.e. inadvertent overwriting of an existing assignment cannot take place. Instead, existing assignments must firstly be explicitly deleted before the specimen plate can be assigned to another sample, and vice versa.

(12) To further enhance operating reliability, provision can be made that the creation of an assignment between a sample and a specimen plate is rejected if an assignment of the sample or the specimen plate already exists, and a warning message is issued. Usefully, the warning message is entered into a log and the log is stored. It is thus possible to determine later, if applicable, if samples have ended up on incorrect specimen slides.

(13) For later identification of a sample that has been frozen onto a specimen plate 1, light is irradiated laterally by means of light source 30 into the transparent marking frame 6, and the marking is detected.