JPH0350972B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The method and apparatus for staining a microscopic specimen according to the present invention are for staining a microscopic specimen for cytodiagnosis in which a thin section of a pathological specimen is attached to a glass slide. Make use of it.

(Prior Art) For diagnosis of cancer and other diseases, it is widely practiced to prepare a microscopic specimen by attaching a thin section of a pathological specimen taken from an affected area to a glass slide, and then observe this specimen under a microscope. Specimens to be observed under such a microscope are pre-stained with different colors for different parts of the cell tissue in order to make them easier to observe.

For this reason, conventionally, a large number of specimens (thin sections of pathological specimens pasted to glass slides) are housed in a hanging basket, spaced apart from each other, and the basket is filled with Harris hematoxylin, hydrochloric acid , Staining the specimen by sequentially immersing it in multiple processing tanks containing a processing solution such as ethanol, or by supporting the specimen on a hanging bracket and sequentially immersing it in multiple processing tanks. was being carried out.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, when staining a microscopic specimen in this manner, a relatively large amount of various processing solutions in the processing tank remain attached to the surface of the slide glass or cage.
The liquid is sent to the next processing tank, and it is inevitable that the processing liquid in the previous and subsequent processing tanks will mix. When different types of processing liquids are mixed in this way, the performance of the processing liquid deteriorates and the staining of the specimen becomes unclear. For this reason, in the past, once a certain number of specimens had been processed, the processing solution in the processing tank was replaced with a new one, but the performance of the processing solution immediately before replacement had deteriorated. However, the staining of specimens treated with this solution was difficult to be sufficiently clear.

It is not practical to replace the processing liquid in the processing tank with a new one every time a dyeing operation is performed because the cost of the processing liquid, which may include expensive ones, increases.

As an invention for solving such inconveniences, there is a method and apparatus for automatically adjusting a microscope specimen slide described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 53-43542.

In the invention described in this publication, a plurality of slide glasses are placed radially on the top surface of a turntable that rotates around a vertical axis, and processing liquid is injected from a nozzle while rotating the turntable. The processing liquid is then applied to the surfaces of the plurality of slide glasses.

However, in the case of the invention described in the above-mentioned publication, which is configured in this way, the processing liquid ejected from the nozzle and attached to the slide glass simply flows down the slide glass surface due to gravity. The processing liquid must continue to be ejected from the nozzle during the processing time.

For this reason, when the processing time is long, the amount of processing liquid consumed becomes excessive, which inevitably increases operating costs unnecessarily.

The present invention solves all of the above-mentioned disadvantages,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method that allows clear specimen staining at all times with low operating costs, and an apparatus that can be used directly to carry out this method.

(Means for Solving the Problems) a. Structure of the Invention of a Method for Staining a Specimen The method for staining a microscopic specimen of the present invention involves cross-sectional are arranged in a radial pattern, forming a truncated cone shape as a whole, and while rotating slowly around a horizontal axis, one treatment solution is sprayed onto the specimen, and then the sample remains as it is while this treatment solution acts. Continue slow rotation, then rotate the specimens at high speed to scatter and eliminate the processing liquid adhering to the surface of each specimen by centrifugal force.
Thereafter, the microscopic specimen is stained by spraying another treatment liquid while rotating the specimen slowly again and removing the excess treatment liquid by high-speed rotation for each predetermined treatment liquid.

b. Structure of the invention of apparatus for staining specimens The apparatus for staining microscopic specimens of the present invention is capable of staining multiple microscope specimens, each of which has a radial cross-section and a truncated conical shape as a whole, in which thin sections of pathological specimens are pasted onto glass slides. It can be installed so that It consists of a cover having a discharge port, and a sprayer inside the cover for spraying a processing liquid onto a specimen mounted on a holder.

(Function) In the method and apparatus for staining microscopic specimens of the present invention configured as described above, a plurality of microscopic specimens arranged in a truncated conical shape with a radial cross section are rotated about a horizontal axis of rotation. While rotating slowly as
When a predetermined amount of processing liquid is sprayed from the nozzle and deposited on the surface of the specimen, this processing liquid will spray a thin section of the specimen and the surface of the slide glass, which rotate around the horizontal axis of rotation, over a long distance. It flows back and forth in both the length and width directions, evenly wetting the surface.

If the rotating shaft is rotated slowly until the processing liquid attached to the specimen thin section is sufficiently affected, then the rotating shaft can be rapidly rotated to remove the processing liquid attached to the surface of the specimen. It is blown away by centrifugal force.

Once all the processing solution that had been attached up to that point has been shaken off, rotate the rotating shaft slowly again, spray the next processing solution to adhere to the specimen, and repeat the above process for each processing solution. For example, a predetermined specimen is stained.

(Example) Next, the present invention will be explained in more detail by explaining the illustrated embodiment.

Figures 1 and 2 show the overall configuration of an apparatus for staining a microscopic specimen in which a thin section of a pathological specimen is attached to a slide glass according to the present invention. It is an AA sectional view of the figure. A motor 2 that can freely change the speed between slow and high speeds is fixed on the top surface of the base 1. A rotary shaft 3 of this motor 2, which protrudes largely to the side of the base 1, is connected to a rotary shaft 3 for carrying the pathological specimen. A holder 5 holds a plurality of specimens 4 (16 specimens in the illustrated example) with thin sections pasted on glass slides in a radial cross-section and a truncated conical shape relative to the rotating shaft 3. It is installed so that it cannot rotate.

Furthermore, around this cage 5, this cage 5
A short cylindrical cover 6 with a bottom and an inner diameter sufficiently larger than an outer diameter is provided. The end of the cover 6 opposite to the motor 2 is open so that the holder 5 can be attached to and detached from the rotating shaft 3, but as will be described later, spray may be sprayed into the cover 6 or shaken off from the specimen. A lid that can be opened and closed may be provided to prevent the processing liquid from diffusing to the outside.

On the side of the cover 6, there is a nozzle 7 for spraying the processing liquid.
The processing liquid sent through the hose 8 is blown into the cover 6 in the form of a mist using compressed air or in an airless manner, and the specimen 4, which is attached to the holder 5, is
The sample is sprayed onto the thin section of the specimen attached to the approximately central part of the sample.

Furthermore, a discharge port 9 is provided at the lower end of the cover 6 for discharging the used or excess processing liquid that has been shaken off from the specimens 4, 4.

On the other hand, a holder 5 for mounting a plurality of specimens 4, 4 is made up of a main body 10 as shown in FIG. 3, a holding plate 11 as shown in FIG. It consists of a nut piece 12 (Fig. 1).

The main body 10 shown in FIG.
A circular tube section 14 through which the rotating shaft 3 can be inserted is vertically planted in the center of the upper surface of 3 (the top and bottom are according to the drawings), and a circular tube section 14 that is parallel to the substrate section 13 is placed above the circular tube section 14. A disk-shaped support plate portion 15 having a slightly smaller diameter than the portion 13 is provided, and a male thread 16 is formed on the outer circumferential surface of a portion of the upper end of the circular tube portion 14 that protrudes above the support portion 15.

A standing wall 17 is formed on the outer peripheral edge of the upper surface of the substrate section 13, and on the inner side of this standing wall 17, radial grooves 18, 18, the same number as the number of specimens to be mounted on the holder 5, are formed in an annular shape. It is arranged and formed. Each of the grooves 18, 18 is formed so that a portion closer to the inner periphery is deeper than a portion closer to the outer periphery.

A support plate section 15 parallel to the substrate section 13 has a plurality of plates for supporting the upper end of the specimen 4 which tends to fall toward the inner circumference when the lower end of the specimen is fitted into the grooves 18, 18. The cuts 19, 19 are the grooves 18, 1
The same number of grooves are formed in the same direction as the grooves 18 and 18 corresponding to the grooves 8.

The holding plate 11 is a circular plate having a slightly larger diameter than the support plate portion 15 of the main body 10, and the circular tube portion 14 is located in the center.
A circular hole 20 through which the male thread 16 at the upper end can be inserted is formed, and a hanging wall 21 is formed at the peripheral edge of the lower surface. The nut piece 12 is screwed onto the male thread 16.

To attach the specimens 4 to the holder 5 configured in this manner, the lower edge of each specimen 4 is fitted into the groove 18 on the top surface of the base plate, and the upper end is inserted into the notch 19 of the support plate 15. do. Since the groove 18 is deeper in the inner circumference than in the outer circumference, the upper end of the specimen 4 whose lower edge is fitted into the groove 18 tends to fall toward the inner circumference.
It is firmly held in the notch 19.

Therefore, it is possible to easily place the main body 10 on a desk or the like in the state shown in FIG. can.

Once the specimens are mounted in the grooves 18, 18 and the notches 19, 19, the holding plate 11 is placed over the support plate 15, and the nut piece 12 is attached to the male screw 1 at the upper end of the circular tube 14.
6 to connect the holding plate 11 to the main body 10.

As a result, the upper and lower outer edges of each specimen 4, 4 are supported by the standing wall 17 and the hanging wall 21, respectively, so that they will not come off even if the holder 5 is rotated.

In this way, in order to attach a plurality of specimens 4 to the holder 5 and stain the thin section of the specimen affixed to each specimen 4, the holder 5 is placed horizontally, and a circle at the center of the main body 10 is The rotary shaft 3 of the motor 2 is inserted into the tube portion 14, the non-circular cross-sectional portion formed in the through hole in the circular tube portion 14 and the non-circular cross-sectional portion formed in the rotary shaft 3 are fitted, and then the circular tube A nut piece 22 is screwed onto a male thread formed at the tip of the rotating shaft 3 protruding from the portion 14, and the retainer 5 is held between the nut piece 22 and a flange 23 formed on the outer periphery of the base of the rotating shaft 3. .

Next, a predetermined amount of processing liquid is sprayed into the case 6 from the nozzle 7 while rotating the motor 2 at a slow speed. The sprayed processing liquid adheres to the surface of the specimen 4, but since the specimen 4 rotates while revolving around the rotation axis 3, the attached processing liquid adheres to the specimen thin section of the specimen 4 and the slide glass. It flows back and forth across the surface, evenly wetting this surface.

In this case, since the specimens 4 are arranged in a truncated cone shape with a radial cross section, the processing liquid attached to the surface of each specimen 4 is distributed not only in the width direction (radial direction) but also in the length direction ( The flow also reciprocates in the left-right direction (in Fig. 1), and the process liquid can be sprayed without increasing the amount of spray.
The specimen thin section attached to the surface is evenly wetted, so that the specimen thin section can be processed uniformly.

The motor 2 is rotated at a slow speed until the processing liquid adhering to the specimen thin section is sufficiently acted upon, and then the motor 2 is rotated at a high speed to remove the processing liquid adhering to the surface of the specimens 4. It is blown away by centrifugal force. Spent or excess processing liquid that has been shaken off is
It is captured by the inner surface of the cover 6 and discharged from the discharge port 9 at the lower end of the cover.

When all the processing liquid that had adhered up to that point has been shaken off, the motor is rotated at a slow speed again, and the next processing liquid is sprayed and adhered to the specimens 4, 4. In this way, the above steps are repeated for each treatment solution to stain the specimen.

(Effects of the Invention) Since the method and apparatus for staining a microscopic specimen of the present invention are configured and carried out as described above, different types of processing solutions do not mix with each other and cause deterioration, and are always kept fresh. Clear dyeing can be performed using a clear processing solution.

In addition, the thin sections attached to the specimen can be sufficiently evenly wetted without particularly increasing the amount of processing solution sprayed onto the specimen, so there is no unnecessary increase in operating costs when staining. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the device of the present invention, with Figure 1 being a longitudinal sectional side view and Figure 2 being A--A in Figure 1.
A sectional view, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the main body of the cage,
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the holding plate. 1: Base, 2: Motor, 3: Rotating shaft, 4: Specimen, 5: Holder, 6: Cover, 7: Nozzle, 8:
Hose, 9: Discharge port, 10: Main body, 11: Holding plate, 12: Nut piece, 13: Base part, 13: Circular pipe part, 15: Support plate part, 16: Male thread, 17: Vertical wall, 18: Groove, 19: Notch, 20: Circular hole, 2
1: hanging wall, 22: nut piece, 23: flange.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of microscopic specimens in which thin sections of pathological specimens are pasted onto glass slides are arranged so that the cross section is radial and the whole has a truncated conical shape, and the horizontal axis is the center. After spraying one treatment liquid onto this specimen while rotating slowly as shown in FIG. The method is characterized in that the liquid is scattered and removed by centrifugal force, and then the spraying of another processing liquid while gently rotating the specimen and the removal of excess processing liquid by high-speed rotation are repeated for each predetermined processing liquid. How to stain microscopic specimens. 2 Multiple microscopic specimens with thin sections of pathological specimens pasted onto glass slides can be mounted so that the cross section is radial and the whole has a truncated cone shape, and is connected to a horizontal rotating shaft that is inserted into the center. a holder for rotation, a variable speed motor for rotating the holder, a cover that covers the outer periphery of the holder and has a discharge port at the lower end; A device for staining microscopic specimens, consisting of a sprayer for spraying a processing solution.