Claims
- 1. A microscope slide stainer, comprising:
a staining protocol program comprising instructions for applying reagents and heat to a plurality of microscope slides bearing biological tissues; a plurality of slide heaters, each heater being comprised of a heating element and having a surface for contacting at least one microscope slide so as to transfer heat to the at least one microscope slide; a temperature control system comprising a processor that issues commands to cause the slide heaters to heat at the times specified in the staining protocol, the temperature control system being capable of heating one heater to a different temperature than another; at least one reagent dispenser that can dispense a liquid reagent onto a microscope slide; a movable carriage that causes the reagent dispenser to be aligned over a desired microscope slide so that reagent dispensed out of the reagent dispenser drops onto an underlying microscope slide; and a movable carriage control system comprising a processor that issues commands to cause relative motion of the reagent dispenser and microscope slide to each other so that the reagent dispenser is aligned over a desired microscope slide, as specified in the staining protocol.
- 2. A microscope slide stainer as claimed in claim 14 wherein the movable carriage moves the microscope slides and reagents are dispensed from a reagent dispenser at a fixed location.
- 3. A microscope slide stainer as claimed in claim 14 wherein each of the heaters contacts only one microscope slide.
- 4. A microscope slide stainer as claimed in claim 14 further comprising a plurality of temperature sensors, each sensor positioned in association with a heater.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/027,746, filed Dec. 20, 2001, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/688,619, filed Oct. 16, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,541,261, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/032,676, filed Feb. 27, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,693. The entire teachings of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Divisions (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10027746 |
Dec 2001 |
US |
Child |
10864620 |
Jun 2004 |
US |
Parent |
09032676 |
Feb 1998 |
US |
Child |
09688619 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09688619 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Child |
10027746 |
Dec 2001 |
US |