Slide inventory and reinsertion system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11221343-B2
Application number	US-202017079241-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 23, 2020
Priority date	Oct 4, 2017
Publication date	Jan 11, 2022
Grant date	Jan 11, 2022

Abstract

A slide rack inventory and reinsertion system for use with a digital slide scanning apparatus is provided that determines, prior to scanning of glass slides in a slide rack, a status of each slot in the slide rack as properly occupied, improperly occupied, or empty. The system also determines whether a slide that has been removed from the slide rack for processing has been properly reinserted into the slide rack.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A digital slide scanning apparatus comprising:
a sensor comprising a sensor mount with a transmitter element on a first side of the sensor mount, a receiver element on a second side of the sensor mount, and an open space between the first side and the second side of the sensor mount, wherein the transmitter element and the receiver element are positioned for line-of-sight communication across the open space;
a motor configured to move a slide rack along a linear axis, such that at least a portion of the slide rack passes through the open space between the first side and the second side of the sensor mount, wherein the loaded slide rack comprises a plurality of slots, and wherein each of the plurality of slots is configured to hold a slide; and
at least one processor configured to
control the motor to move the slide rack along the linear axis, and
analyze a signal, output by the sensor during the movement of the slide rack along the linear axis, to determine the status of each of the plurality of slots in the slide rack.

2. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensor mount comprises a first arm on the first side and a second arm on the second side, wherein the transmitter element is positioned on the first arm, and wherein the receiver element is positioned on the second arm.

3. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the slide rack comprises a rear portion of the slide rack.

4. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to monitor the signal, output by the sensor, during reinsertion of a slide into one of the plurality of slots in the slide rack, to determine whether or not the reinserted slide has been fully inserted into the one slot.

5. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to, when determining that the slide has not been fully inserted into the one slot, abort and retry the reinsertion of the slide into the one slot.

6. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to, when determining that the slide has not been fully inserted into the one slot, generate an alert to request operator intervention.

7. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a plane of the line-of-sight communication is parallel to planes of all of the plurality of slots in the slide rack while the slide rack is moved along the linear axis.

8. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 7 , wherein movement of the slide rack along the linear axis causes the planes of each of the plurality of slots in the slide rack to pass through the plane of the line-of-sight communication.

9. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein determining the status of each of the plurality of slots in the slide rack comprises classifying each of the plurality of slots into one of a plurality of statuses.

10. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of statuses comprises an occupied status and an empty status.

11. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the occupied status comprises a plurality of sub-statuses, and wherein determining the status of each of the plurality of slots in the slide rack comprises classifying each of the plurality of slots that are occupied into one of the plurality of sub-statuses.

12. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of sub-statuses comprises an occupied-normal status, which indicates that the respective slot is occupied by a properly positioned slide.

13. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of sub-statuses comprises an occupied-abnormal status, which indicates that the respective slot is occupied by an improperly positioned slide.

14. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of sub-statuses comprises an occupied-stacked status, which indicates that the respective slot is occupied by two or more stacked slides.

15. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of sub-statuses comprises an occupied-askew status, which indicates that the respective slot is occupied by a slide that is positioned at an angle with respect to a plane of the line-of-sight communication.

16. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of sub-statuses comprises an occupied-broken status, which indicates that the respective slot is occupied by a slide that is broken.

17. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a status of the slide rack based on the statuses into which the plurality of slots is classified.

18. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to, during processing of the slide rack, skip any of the plurality of slots for which the determined status indicates that the slot is occupied by an improperly positioned slide.

19. The digital slide scanning apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the signal is a continuous signal that is continuously received by the at least one processor during the movement of the slide rack along the linear axis, and wherein the at least one processor correlates the continuously received signal to each of the plurality of slots in the slide rack.

20. A method in a digital slide scanning apparatus, the method comprising, by at least one processor of the digital slide scanning apparatus:
controlling a motor to move a slide rack along a linear axis, such that at least a portion of the slide rack passes through an open space between a first side and a second side of a sensor, wherein the sensor comprises a transmitter element on the first side and a receiver element on the second side, and wherein the transmitter element and the receiver element are positioned for line-of-sight communication across the open space;
receiving a signal, output by the sensor during the movement of the slide rack along the linear axis; and
analyzing the received signal to determine the status of each of a plurality of slots in the slide rack.

Assignees

• Leica Biosystems Imaging Inc

Inventors

• Newberg Nicholas
• Djelosevic Prentash
• Stearrett Aaron
• Najmabadi Peyman

Classifications

• G01N2021/0112

  Apparatus in one mechanical, optical or electronic block · CPC title

• G02B21/34

  Microscope slides, e.g. mounting specimens on microscope slides · CPC title

• G01N1/28

  Preparing specimens for investigation {including physical details of (bio-)chemical methods covered elsewhere, e.g. G01N33/50, C12Q}(mounting specimens on microscopic slides G02B21/34; means for supporting the objects or the materials to be analysed in electron microscopes H01J37/20 {; laboratory gas handling apparatus B01L5/00}) · CPC title

• G01N21/01

  Arrangements or apparatus for facilitating the optical investigation · CPC title

• G01N21/84

  Systems specially adapted for particular applications · CPC title