The present invention relates to a sealing apparatus.
A pathological specimen is prepared as follows. Specifically, a specimen such as a tissue or cell collected from humans, animals, and the like is embedded, sliced, and attached and dyed on a slide glass. Then, a cover slip that is a cover film or a cover glass is stuck on the slide glass with the specimen provided in between to seal the specimen. Thus, a pathological specimen for microscopic observation is prepared. There has been known a sealing apparatus that presses or sticks the cover slip on the specimen disposed on the slide glass to seal the specimen in this process (see PTL 1: JP-A-2018-25512).
In the sealing apparatus, the cover slip is stuck on the slide glass using an adhesive. The adhesive may be contained in a sealing agent dispensed onto the slide glass at the time of sealing, or may be previously applied to the cover slip. In the latter case, the sealing agent contains a solvent dissolving the adhesive. When the sealing agent is dispensed onto the slide glass and then the cover slip is pressed, the sealing agent dissolves the adhesive applied to the cover slip, and thus the cover slip is stuck.
In the sealing apparatus, the slide glass before the sealing is dipped in a clearing agent, and is taken out from the clearing agent and conveyed to a sealing position at the time of sealing. The clearing agent includes one that provides an effect of dissolving the adhesive applied to the cover slip, in addition to the effects of preventing the drying and maintaining the favorable dyed state of the specimen. Thus, in the sealing apparatus, the cover slip is stuck on the slide glass with the specimen sandwiched in between, with an appropriate combination among the type of the cover slip (the adhesive is applied or not for example), the type of the sealing agent (whether the adhesive is contained or the solvent is contained for example), and the type of the clearing agent (how much the adhesive can be dissolved for example).
The sealing apparatus includes a sealing agent bottle that stores the sealing agent to be dispensed onto the slide glass, and the bottle is entirely replaced with a new bottle when the sealing agent runs short. Thus, sealing agent is replenished/replaced. With a conventional configuration, the sealing agent bottle may be erroneously replaced with a bottle storing a sealing agent of a type different from the sealing agent running short. Such an erroneous input of the sealing agent may lead to sealing failure of the specimen causing drying, deterioration, and damaging of the specimen due to the incompatibility among the cover slip, the sealing agent, and the clearing agent, and thus may result in the compromised quality of the pathological specimen.
Furthermore, there is a risk of deterioration and failure of the sealing apparatus, due to the use of the sealing agent the compatibility of which with respect to the sealing apparatus has not been confirmed and the use of inappropriate sealing agent.
The present invention is made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sealing apparatus with which the replacement of sealing agent bottle prevented from resulting in erroneous input of the sealing agent, and an appropriate combination among the cover slip, the sealing agent, and the clearing agent can be achieved.
The present invention achieves the above object by the solution as an embodiment as described below.
A sealing apparatus according to the present invention is configured to stick a cover slip that is a cover film or a cover glass on a specimen disposed on a slide glass to seal the specimen, and includes: a starting bath in which a clearing agent is stored and the slide glass on which the specimen before the sealing is attached is accommodated to be dipped in the clearing agent; a sealing agent bottle that is configured to store a sealing agent to be dispensed onto the slide glass taken out from the starting bath, and includes a recording unit in which at least a type of the sealing agent stored is recorded; a storage unit configured to store information on compatibility between types of the cover slip and the clearing agent currently applied and a type of the sealing agent; and a control unit configured to perform control of determining, when the sealing agent bottle is replaced, whether the type of the sealing agent read from the recording unit is compatible with the types of the cover slip and the clearing agent currently applied, stored in the storage unit, and making, when a result of the determination is incompatible, a notification unit issue a notification indicating the incompatibility.
With this configuration, replacement of the sealing agent bottle is prevented from resulting in the input of an inappropriate sealing agent, and the sealing agent compatible with the cover slip and the clearing agent currently applied can be reliably replenished.
Preferably, an expiry date of the sealing agent stored in the sealing agent bottle is recorded in the recording unit, and the control unit performs, when the sealing agent bottle is replaced, control of comparing the expiry date read from the recording unit with a current date based on a calendar function to determine whether the current date is after the expiry date, and of making, when at least the current date is after the expiry date, the notification unit issue a notification indicating that the expiry date is in past. With this configuration, input of deteriorated sealing agent after the expiry date can be prevented.
In a preferable configuration, a reading mechanism configured to read information recorded in the recording unit is provided, wherein the reading mechanism is provided to a lid portion configured to close the sealing agent bottle, and the information becomes readable from the recording unit when the sealing agent bottle is closed by the lid portion. In an alternative preferable configuration, a reading mechanism configured to read information recorded in the recording unit is provided, wherein the reading mechanism is provided in a predetermined position in periphery of the sealing agent bottle, and the information becomes readable from the recording unit when the sealing agent bottle is disposed in the sealing apparatus. In an alternative preferable configuration, a reading mechanism configured to read information recorded in the recording unit is provided, wherein the reading mechanism is placed on a base where the sealing agent bottle is placed, and the information becomes readable from the recording unit when the sealing agent bottle is placed on the base. With these configurations, the sealing agent bottle can be reliably disposed in the predetermined position in the sealing apparatus, when the sealing agent bottle is replaced.
With the present invention, replacement of the sealing agent bottle is prevented from resulting in the input of an inappropriate sealing agent, and the sealing agent compatible with the cover slip and the clearing agent can be reliably replenished.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The upward-downward direction illustrated in the drawings is assumed to match the direction of gravity.
As illustrated in
The sealing apparatus 10 according to the present invention further includes, as an internal configuration, a starting bath 22 that is an dipping bath containing a clearing agent. A basket 14 accommodates a predetermined number (10 or 20 for example) of slide glasses 12 on which a specimen after dyeing that is a pre-process for pathological specimen preparation is attached. The slide glasses 12 are accommodated in the starting bath 22 together with the basket 14, to be dipped in the clearing agent.
The clearing agent provides effects of preventing the drying of the specimen and maintaining a favorable dyed state. The clearing agent provides an effect of dissolving an adhesive previously applied to the cover slip 26 for sticking the cover slip 26 on the slide glass 12. An example of such a clearing agent includes an organic solvent such as xylene.
The starting bath 22 is configured to be attachable and detachable to and from the sealing apparatus 10, and is conveyed by the user to a predetermined portion in the sealing apparatus 10 through a starting bath door 24 provided in the front surface of the apparatus 10, while accommodating the basket 14 (that is, the slide glasses 12). Alternatively, the sealing apparatus 10 may be coupled to a dyeing apparatus (not illustrated), and the starting bath 22 accommodating the basket 14 may be configured to be automatically conveyed into the sealing apparatus 10 using a conveyance apparatus (not illustrated), from the dyeing apparatus.
The sealing apparatus 10 includes a take-out mechanism (not illustrated) that takes out the basket 14 from the starting bath 22 and a conveyance mechanism (not illustrated) that conveys the basket 14 taken out from the starting bath 22. With these mechanisms, the basket 14 is conveyed to the predetermined position in the apparatus 10. The sealing apparatus 10 further includes a conveyance mechanism (not illustrated) that conveys the slide glass 12 from the basket 14. With this mechanism, the slide glasses 12 are conveyed to a sealing position X in the apparatus 10 one by one.
The sealing apparatus 10 further includes a mounting portion 30 to which the cover film 26a that is the cover slip 26 is mounted via a holder 28. The cover film 26a is a long (about 60 m for example) sheet (transparent or semitransparent sheet made of resin for example), and is wound around the holder 28. With the holder 28 rotatably mounted to the mounting portion 30, the cover film 26a can be drawn by rotating the holder 28. The cover film 26a drawn from the holder 28 is fed toward the downstream side through a pair of feed rollers 32. The cover film 26a is cut in a predetermined length by a cutter 34 provided on the downstream side of the feed rollers 32, and is then fed to the sealing position X through a pair of cover rollers 36. With a sticking roller 38a as a sealing unit 38 provided at the sealing position X, the cover film 26a is pressed against the slide glass 12 disposed at the sealing position X with the specimen provided in between.
On the other hand, as illustrated in
A dispensing nozzle 40 from which a sealing agent is dispensed onto the slide glass 12 (that is, the specimen) is provided at the sealing position X. The dispensing nozzle 40 is connected to a sealing agent bottle 44 storing the sealing agent and a pump 46, through a dispensing pipe 42. Thus, the dispensing nozzle 40 discharges the sealing agent sucked from the sealing agent bottle 44. With a distal end portion disposed above the specimen on the slide glass 12 disposed at the sealing position X, the dispensing nozzle 40 can dispense the sealing agent onto the specimen. The sealing agent overflowed from the slide glass 12 is stored in a waste liquid bottle 48 via a waste liquid tray (not illustrated).
For example, the sealing agent contains an adhesive for sticking the cover slip 26 to the slide glass 12. In this case, when the cover slip 26 is pressed against the slide glass 12 on which the sealing agent has been dispensed, the cover slip 26 is stuck by the adhesive in the sealing agent. As another example, the sealing agent contains a solvent that dissolves the adhesive. In this case, when the cover slip 26 is pressed against the slide glass 12 on which the sealing agent has been dispensed, the sealing agent dissolves the adhesive applied to the cover slip 26, and thus the cover slip 26 is stuck. While the cover slip 26 of a type with the adhesive previously applied to the cover film 26a is popular, the adhesive may be applied to the cover glass 26b. As the solvent-containing sealing agent, the agent (such as xylene for example) that is the same as the clearing agent may be used.
Depending on products, the adhesive-containing sealing agent may be referred to as “sealing agent” and the solvent-containing sealing agent may be referred to as “sealing aid agent” for the sake of distinction, or the adhesive applied to the cover slip 26 may also be referred to as “sealing agent”. Anyway, regardless of the various ways of naming, with an appropriate combination among the type of the cover slip 26 (whether the adhesive is applied, for example), the type of sealing agent (whether the adhesive is contained or whether the solvent is contained), and the type of clearing agent (how much the adhesive can be dissolved), the specimen can be sealed in the sealing apparatus 10, with the cover slip 26 stuck on the slide glass 12 with the specimen provided in between.
The slide glass 12 after the completion of the sealing is conveyed by the conveyance mechanism (not illustrated) to be accommodated in the basket 14 which is the original location (
The accommodation unit 52 is configured to be openable and closable by an opening-closing cover 54, so that the user can take out the slide glasses 12 after the sealing, from the apparatus 10 together with the basket 14.
Next, the sealing agent bottle 44 which is a feature of the present embodiment and a peripheral configuration thereof will be described with reference to
Here, the sealing agent bottle 44 is provided with a recording unit 62 in which at least the type of sealing agent stored in the sealing agent bottle 44 is recorded. On the other hand, the sealing apparatus 10 is provided with a reading mechanism 64 that is configured to read information recorded in the recording unit 62, and transmit a read information signal to the control unit 66 provided at a predetermined position in the apparatus 10 as illustrated in
In the recording unit 62, the expiry date of the sealing agent may be recorded in addition to the type of the sealing agent. Thus, the expiry date of the replaced (replenished) sealing agent can be recognized when the sealing agent bottle 44 is replaced. Furthermore, the control unit 66 can compare the expiratory date recognized using the recording unit 62 with the current date based on a calendar function, to determine whether the current date is after the expiratory date. As a result, the deteriorated sealing agent after the expiry date can be prevented from being input, whereby the sealing failure of the specimen as well as the resultant drying, deterioration, and damaging of the specimen can be reliably prevented. Thus, the quality of the pathological specimen can be more reliability prevented from compromising.
The configuration, the position, and the number of the recording units 62 are not limited. For example, a predetermined number of recording units 62, configured by a recording medium or the like such as a barcode as one-dimensional code, a two-dimensional code example of which including a matrix code and a stack code, an RF tag, or an IC tag, or other graphics, symbols, numbers, or characters may be provided at a predetermined position of the sealing agent bottle 44. Among these, a production identification code of an international standard such as GTIN (JAN code) which is provided to many produces, may be used as the recording unit 62. Such a recoding unit 62 may be configured in any way as long as the desired information can be obtained based on the information recorded therein. Thus, a configuration in which the desired information is directly recorded in the recording unit 62 should not be construed in a limiting sense, and a configuration may be employed in which the desired information associated with the information recorded in the recording unit 62 is stored in advance in the storage unit 68, and the desired information is obtained using the storage unit 68. The configuration, the position, and the number of the reading mechanisms 64 for the recording unit 62 are not limited. For example, a barcode reader, a reader/writer, or the like may be provided in accordance with the configuration of the recording unit 62.
As an example of the arrangement of the recording unit 62 and the reading mechanism 64, a configuration as illustrated in
Note that the communication between the reading mechanism 64 and the control unit 66 is not limited to a wired mode, and may be wirelessly performed. Thus, the reading mechanism 64 does not necessarily need to be fixed to or connected using wire to the sealing apparatus 10, and thus can be provided as an independent device. For example, the reading mechanism 64 may be a dedicated portable device, or may be formed by adding the reading function to other items example of which including a portable communication device such as a smartphone and a tablet. Furthermore, a configuration may be employed in which the reading mechanism 64 is not provided, and the user directly inputs the number or the like for identifying the type of the sealing agent on the operation unit 18 (tenkey on the operation panel for example) to make the control unit 66 recognize the type of the sealing agent stored in the sealing agent bottle 44.
Next, a control operation related to the replacement of the sealing agent bottle 44 in the sealing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram illustrated in
Upon receiving the notification, the user then replaces the sealing agent bottle 44 (S007). When the new sealing agent bottle 44 is appropriately disposed, the information can be read from the recording unit 62 (S009-1). When the new sealing agent bottle 44 is closed by the lid portion 58 and the one end 42a of the dispensing pipe 42 is inserted into the sealing agent, the sealing agent shortage signal from the liquid level sensor 60 (for example, float switch OFF) changes to a sealing agent sufficient signal (for example, float switch ON) and is transmitted to the control unit 66 (S009-2). Upon receiving the signal, the control unit 66 starts reading the information from the recording unit 62 using the reading mechanism 64 (S011). The control may be performed to start the reading as soon as the information becomes readable, or the control may be performed to start the reading when the sealing agent sufficient signal is received.
In a case of a configuration in which the information is read in response to the user holding the reading mechanism 64 against the recording unit 62 or the like, instead of a configuration in which the information is automatically read from the recording unit 62 using the reading mechanism 64 fixed to the sealing apparatus 10 in a state where the sealing agent bottle 44 is disposed in the sealing apparatus 10, the control unit 66 reads the information from the recording unit 62 in response to the operation on the reading mechanism 64 by the user as described above (S011). Thus, with such a configuration, the notification unit 20 may issue a notification inducing the operation of the reading mechanism 64 as described above.
Next, the control unit 66 performs determination related to the compatibility and expiry date of the sealing agent, based on the information read from the recording unit 62 (S013). Specifically, the control unit 66 determines whether the type of the sealing agent read from the recording unit 62 is compatible with the types of the cover slip 26 and the clearing agent currently applied, stored in the storage unit 68 (S013-1). When the result of the determination indicates compatible, the notification indicating compatible is issued from the notification unit 20 (S015-1). When the result of the determination indicates incompatible, the notification indicating incompatible is issued from the notification unit 20 (S015-2).
The control unit 66 compares the expiry date of the sealing agent read from the recording unit 62 with the current date based on the calendar function, to determine whether the current date is after the expiry date (S013-3). Then, control is performed in such a manner that when the current date is before the expiry date, the notification indicating such a fact is issued from the notification unit 20 (S015-3), and when the current date is after the expiry date, the notification indicating such a fact is issued from the notification unit 20 (S015-4).
When the sealing agent is compatible and the expiry date has not been exceeded yet, the replenishment of the sealing agent is completed (END). On the other hand, when the sealing agent is incompatible (S015-2) or when the expiry date has been exceeded (S015-4), the user receives the notification and performs the replacement again using another sealing agent bottle 44 (S007). Then, the control unit 66 performs the determination again for the sealing agent (S013).
In this manner, according to the present embodiment, the sealing agent compatible with the cover slip 26 and the clearing agent currently applied, and is before the expiry date can be reliably replenished by the replacement of the sealing agent bottle 44. As a result, the sealing failure as well as the resultant drying, deterioration, and damaging of the specimen due to the use of incompatible sealing agent, deteriorated sealing agent, or the like can be prevented. Furthermore, the deterioration and failure of the sealing apparatus 10 can be prevented.
Note that the notification may not necessarily be issued for the sealing agent that is compatible and is before the expiry date. The order of the determination and the notification (S013-1, S015-1, 2) for the compatibility of the sealing agent and the determination and the notification (S013-3, S015-3, 4) for the expiry date of the sealing agent is not particularly limited. Thus, any one of these may be performed earlier or later than the other, or these may be concurrently performed.
As another example, as illustrated in
As described above, with the sealing apparatus according to the present invention, the replacement of the sealing agent bottle is prevented from resulting in erroneous input of the sealing agent, and an appropriate combination of the cover slip, the sealing agent, and the clearing agent can be achieved.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified in various ways without departing from the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2021-140156 | Aug 2021 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2022/023073 | 6/8/2022 | WO |