The present invention generally relates to a field of medical devices and clinical pathology. Specifically, the present invention relates to a portable device for automated staining of biological specimens, such as blood specimen and sputum specimen, on microscopic slides.

BACKGROUND

Clinical pathology plays an important role in medical research and instrumentation field. Accurate diagnosis depends on a pathologist or cytologist examining stained microscope slides. The method of preparing these slides using biological specimen require specific working steps and staining procedure to be followed for accurate diagnosis and examination of the specimen under the microscope. Manual preparation of these slides is time-consuming, requires skilled technicians and leads to inconsistent results.

In order to overcome these challenges, there are few automated staining devices known in the art for preparing the slide smears, fixate the smears, and stain the slides in a single process. Examinations of biological specimens such as blood and sputum smears are all in need. The staining protocol varies depending on the biological specimen and the optimized steps of staining. The need for consistency is vital to avoid any difficultly in interpretation of the clinical results.

Although these staining devices have certain advantages such as minimizing the manual errors, save time and ensure the safety of the technicians in the pathology labs. But, these conventional automated staining devices are bulky and cannot be used at point-of-care in the remote areas which have limited access to the medical facilities. Another problem is that it fails to provide accurate and consistent stained slides having different biological specimens. It not only hampers the medical research, but also causes great inconvenience to the medical staff.

Therefore, in light of the discussion above, there is a need to develop an improved automated slide staining device which overcomes the aforesaid challenges known in the art.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a portable automated slide staining device for staining glass slides smeared with biological specimen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a portable automated slide staining device for staining one or more glass slides smeared with a biological specimen is disclosed. The portable automated slide staining device includes a slide tray configured to hold the glass slides. The portable automated slide staining device further includes a stepper motor coupled to the slide tray. The stepper motor is configured to selectively move the slide tray. The portable automated slide staining device further includes a plurality of liquid dispensers. Each of the liquid dispensers is filled with a liquid, and is configured to selectively dispense the liquid on the glass slides. The portable automated slide staining device further includes a dryer configured to blow dry air on the glass slides. The portable automated slide staining device further includes a control system communicatively coupled to the stepper motor, the liquid dispensers and the dryer. The control system is configured to determine the position of each of the glass slides placed on the slide tray, and move the slide tray so as to position each of the glass slides at predefined positions. The control system is further configured to dispense predefined quantity of the liquid on each glass slides from each of the liquid dispensers in a sequence. The control system further operates the dryer for drying the biological specimen on the glass slides, and controls the timing of operation of the slide tray, each of the liquid dispensers and the dryer. The portable automated slide staining device further includes a human machine interface (HMI) communicatively coupled to the control system for inputting instructions to the control system, and executing the staining of the biological specimen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may have been referred by embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

These and other features, benefits, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following figures, with like reference numbers referring to like structures across the views, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a portable automated slide staining device according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 illustrated an isometric view of the portable automated slide staining device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of the portable automated slide staining device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the present invention is described herein by way of example using embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of drawing or drawings described, and are not intended to represent the scale of the various components. Further, some components that may form a part of the invention may not be illustrated in certain figures, for ease of illustration, and such omissions do not limit the embodiments outlined in any way. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim. As used throughout this description, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e. meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense, (i.e. meaning must). Further, the words "a" or "an" mean "at least one” and the word “plurality” means “one or more” unless otherwise mentioned. Furthermore, the terminology and phraseology used herein is solely used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as limiting in scope. Language such as "including," "comprising," "having," "containing," or "involving," and variations thereof, is intended to be broad and encompass the subject matter listed thereafter, equivalents, and additional subject matter not recited, and is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps. Likewise, the term "comprising" is considered synonymous with the terms "including" or "containing" for applicable legal purposes. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles and the like is included in the specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention.

In this disclosure, whenever a composition or an element or a group of elements is preceded with the transitional phrase “comprising”, it is understood that we also contemplate the same composition, element or group of elements with transitional phrases “consisting of”, “consisting”, “selected from the group of consisting of, “including”, or “is” preceding the recitation of the composition, element or group of elements and vice versa.

The present invention is described hereinafter by various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein reference numerals used in the accompanying drawing correspond to the like elements throughout the description. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following detailed description, numeric values and ranges are provided for various aspects of the implementations described. These values and ranges are to be treated as examples only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. In addition, a number of materials are identified as suitable for various facets of the implementations. These materials are to be treated as exemplary, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring now to Fig. 1, a schematic diagram of a portable automated slide staining device 100 is illustrated in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The portable automated slide staining device (hereinafter referred to as ‘device’) 100 is a portable device for automatically staining one or more glass slides smeared with a biological specimen. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the glass slides are microscopic slides. These microscopic slides may be smeared with the biological specimen and is examined under a microscope for diagnosis. The device 100 may be capable of performing the entire staining procedure automatically. The glass slides once stained by the device 100 may become ready for microscopy. In doing so, the device 100 may eliminate any chances of error that could occur in a staining procedure performed by a human. The device 100 may be preferably employed in pathology laboratories where pathologists examines various biological specimens to diagnose diseases associated with it. The device 100 may also be employed in other places such as, but not limited to, hospitals, clinics, medical camps, institutions etc. where biological specimens are required to be examined. Moreover, the device 100 may even be used in remote areas lab infrastructure is not available.

Referring now to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, an isometric view and a cross-sectional side view respectively of the portable automated slide staining device 100 is illustrated in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. It should be noted that all components of the device 100 shown in Fig. 1 may not be shown in Fig.2 and Fig. 3. However, all the components shown in Fig. 1 will form the part of the device 100. The device 100 may include a slide tray 102 that is configured to hold one or more glass slides 104. In a preferred embodiment, the slide tray 102 may have a substantially circular shape. However, slide tray 102 of other shapes known in the art may also be implemented. Additionally, the slide tray 102 may have one or more slots 106, such that in each slot 106 one glass slide 104 may be placed. The slot 106 may have a shape similar to the shape of the glass slide 104 so as to securely hold the glass slide 104 in the slot 106. The slide tray 102 may be arranged in a substantially horizontal position, and the glass slides 104 may be arranged in a substantially horizontal position in the slots 106 of the slide tray 102. It should be noted that the device 100 may be capable of staining a minimum of one glass slide 104 during a staining procedure, and, if required, the device 100 may stain a plurality of glass slides 104 simultaneously during a staining procedure.

For performing a staining procedure via the device 100, a user may manually place the glass slides 104 in the slots 106 of the slide tray 102. Before placing the glass slides 104, each of the glass slides 104 is smeared with a biological specimen. The biological specimen may include, but may not be limited to a blood specimen, a sputum specimen. According to an embodiment, the glass slides 104 may be smeared with the biological specimen manually by an expert. According to another embodiment, the glass slides 104 may be smeared with the biological specimen via a machine. For the purpose of explanation, during specimen smearing, the biological specimen may be spread across the glass slide 104 forming a thin layer of the biological specimen.

The device 100 further includes a stepper motor 108. The stepper motor 108 may be coupled to the slide tray 102, and may be configured to selectively move the slide tray 102. In a preferred embodiment, the stepper motor 108 may move the slide tray 102 in a rotational motion where the stepper motor 108 is arranged at the central axis of the slide tray 102. The slide tray 102 may be moved in order to position the glass slides 104 at predefined positions. For the purpose of explanation, these predefined positions may be the positions where certain steps of the staining procedure are defined to take place. For example, at certain predefined position, the biological specimen on the glass slides 104 may be dried via a dryer, and at some predefined positions, liquids may be dispensed on the biological specimen of the glass slides 104 for staining via a liquid dispenser. In a preferred embodiment, the stepper motor 108 may be arranged below the slide tray 102. In certain embodiments, stepper motor 108 may be covered via a housing 110 as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. The housing 110 may be the external body of the device 100 that protects the components of the device 100. Further the housing 110 may also provide an aesthetic appearance to the device 100. It should be noted that the device 100 shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 is for illustrative purposes only, and the appearance of the device 100 may vary from the device 100 shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.

A plurality of liquid dispensers 112 for dispensing liquid on the glass slides 104 may be provided in the device 100. Each of the liquid dispensers 112 may be filled with a liquid, and may be configured to selectively dispense the liquid on the biological specimen of the glass slides 104. The liquid herein is referred to as various types of liquids that aid in the process of staining the glass slides 104 smeared with the biological specimen. The liquids contained in the liquid dispensers 112 may be a staining solution and a rinsing solution. Some examples of the staining solution may include methylene blue and eosin solution, and Carbol Fuchsin solution. An example of the rinsing solution may include distilled water. It should be noted that the liquid dispensers 112 may contain staining solutions depending on the biological specimen to be stained. For example, when a sputum specimen is to be stained, the liquid dispenser 112 may contain the Carbol Fuschin solution. If a blood specimen is to be stained, the liquid dispenser 112 may contain the methylene blue and eosin solution. Further, each of the liquid dispensers 112 may be refillable with the liquid as and when required by the user. In some embodiment, each of the liquid dispensers112 may be mountable at a predefined position in the device 100.The predefined position may be such that the liquid dispensers 112 may easily dispense the liquid on the glass slides 104.

Each of the liquid dispensers 100 may include a spray nozzle 114 and a container 116. The spray nozzle 114 may be provided to uniformly dispense the liquid contained in the container 116. According to an embodiment, the container 116 and the spray nozzle 114 may be separable from each other. In such embodiments, the container 116 may be mountable on the spray nozzle 114 provided in the device 100. In some embodiments, the device 100 may include a container stand 118 having a plurality of receptacles for holding the liquid dispensers 112.

The device 100 may further include a dryer 120. The dryer 120 may be configured to blow dry air on the glass slides 104 smeared with the biological specimen. The dryer 120 may be arranged in such a manner that it may directly blow dry air on the glass slide 104. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that in a staining procedure, the biological specimen may be required to be dried at certain steps. For example, the biological specimen may be dried before dispensing the liquids. Further, the biological specimen may be dried after they are stained with the liquids. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the configuration of the dryer 120 may depend on the overall configuration of the device 100.

A control system 122 communicatively coupled to the stepper motor 108, the plurality of liquid dispensers 112 and the dryer 120 is provided in the device 100. The control system 122 may include a memory module where a Ziehl–Neelsen staining procedure and a Leishman staining procedure may be stored. The control system 122 may operate the device 100 based on the selected staining procedure. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the staining procedure may be selected based on the biological specimen to be stained. In case of blood specimen staining, Leishman staining procedure will be selected, and in case of sputum specimen staining, Ziehl–Neelsen staining procedure will be selected.

Initially, the control system 122 may be configured to determine the position of each of the glass slides 104 placed on the slide tray 102. In some embodiments, the position of each of the glass slides 104 may be determined via sensors. In certain embodiments, the position of each of the glass slides 104 may be determined via an image capturing device. The control system 122 may selectively move the slide tray 102 based on the current position of the glass slides 104. Once the current position of the glass slides 104 is determined, the control system 122 may control the stepper motor to selectively move the slide tray 102 to the predefined position. The predefined position may be the position in proximity to the dryer120, or in proximity to each of the plurality of liquid dispensers 112. For the purpose of explanation, in case the biological specimen is required to be dried first, the control system 122 may move the slide tray 102 in proximity to the dryer 120 and operate the dryer 120 to dry the biological specimen. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that when a plurality of glass slides 104 with biological specimen are placed, the control system 122 may control the stepper motor 108 to move the slide tray 102 multiple times so that each of the glass slides 104 may be dried by the dryer 120.

After drying the biological specimen, the control system 122 may move the slide tray 102 in proximity to the plurality of liquid dispensers 112. Once the glass slides 104 are positioned in the proximity to the plurality of liquid dispensers 112, the control system 122 may operate the plurality of liquid dispensers 112 to dispense the liquid on the biological specimens. As each of the liquid dispensers 112 is independently controlled, the control system 122 may operate each of the liquid dispensers 112 to dispense a predefined quantity of liquid according to the staining procedure. Further, the control system 122 may operate the liquid dispensers 112 in a sequential manner. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the sequence of dispensing the liquid from the liquid dispensers 112 may depend on the staining procedure selected from the memory module of the control system 122.

The control system 122 may further control the timing for carrying out each step of the staining procedure. For example, the control system 122 may be configured to control the time period of movement of the slide tray 102. Moreover, the control system 122 may control the time period for which the dryer 120 may be operated. Similarly the control system 122 may control the time period for which the glass slides 104 may be stained or rinsed with each of the liquid. For the purpose of explanation, the control system 122 may stain the glass slides 104 smeared with the biological specimen and wait for a time period of two minutes before proceeding to the next step. After staining, the glass slides 104 may be rinsed by another liquid for a time period of six minutes. This time period may depend on the staining procedure selected for staining the biological specimen.

The device 100 may further include a human machine interface (HMI) 124 communicatively coupled to the control system 122. In an embodiment, the human machine interface 124 may be disposed on the device 100. For the purpose of explanation, the human machine interface 124 may be a touch screen panel or a keypad panel. In certain embodiments, the human machine interface 124 may include a display screen. The human machine interface 124 may enable a user to input instructions to the control system 122. For example, a user may initiate the staining procedure via the human machine interface 124. Similarly, a user may select the staining procedure via the human machine interface 124 based on the biological specimen to be stained. Moreover, a user may modify the parameters of the staining procedure as per the requirement. Some of the parameters of the staining procedure may include quantity of liquid to be dispensed by each of the liquid dispenser 112, time of operation of dryer 120, waiting time period between dispensing of liquid by each of the liquid dispenser 112 etc.

Various modifications to these embodiments are apparent to those skilled in the art from the description and the accompanying drawings. The principles associated with the various embodiments described herein may be applied to other embodiments. Therefore, the description is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown along with the accompanying drawings but is to be providing broadest scope of consistent with the principles and the novel and inventive features disclosed or suggested herein. Accordingly, the invention is anticipated to hold on to all other such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the present invention and appended claims.

Examples

Below are a few examples provided for staining various biological specimens with the device 100.

This example refers to staining of glass slides 104 smeared with a sputum specimen using Ziehl-Neelsen staining. The user may place one or more glass slides 104 with a sputum specimen on the slide tray 102 of the device 100.After placing the glass slide 104, the user may initiate the Ziehl-Neelsen staining procedure. The Ziehl-Neelsen staining procedure may be selected via the human machine interface 124. Further, if any parameter is required to be updated, the user may do so via the human machine interface 124. Based on the staining procedure, the stepper motor 108 of the device may move the slide tray 102 to a predefined position where a dryer 120 may be positioned. The dryer 120 may dry the sputum specimen smeared on the glass slide 104. Once drying is complete, the slide tray 102 may be moved to another predefined position where a first liquid dispenser 112 is positioned. The first liquid dispenser 112 may contain 1% Carbol Fuchsin solution. The control system 122 may operate the first dispenser 112 to dispense a predefined quantity of the Carbol Fuchsin solution and wait for a time period of eight minutes. In the given time period, the predefined quantity of Carbol Fuchsin solution may cover the whole slide. After that, the stepper motor 108 may move the slide tray 102 to a second liquid dispenser 112. The second dispenser 112 may contain distilled water. The control system 122 may operate the second liquid dispenser 112 to dispense 40 ml of distilled water and wait for a time period of one minute. In the next step, the stepper motor 108 may move the slide tray 102 to a third liquid dispenser 112. The third dispenser may contain 25% of H2SO4. The control system 122 may operate the third liquid dispenser 112 to dispense predefined quantity of 25% of H2SO4solution and wait for a time period of ten minutes so that the 25% of H2SO4solution may cover the whole slide. After that, the stepper motor 108 may move the slide tray 102 to a fourth liquid dispenser. The fourth liquid dispenser may contain 0.1% Methylene blue. The control system 122 may operate the fourth liquid dispenser 112 to dispense 100 ml of the 0.1% Methylene blue and wait for a time period of three minutes. Once the 0.1% Methylene blue is dispensed, the stepper motor 108 may move the slide tray 102 to the second liquid dispenser 112. The second liquid dispenser 112 may dispense the distilled water for one minute. The slide tray 102 is then moved to the dryer 120 for drying the stained sputum specimen. The sputum specimen is then ready for microscopy.

This example refers to staining of glass slides 104 smeared with a blood specimen using Leishman Staining. The user may place one or more glass slides 104 with a blood specimen on the slide tray 102 of the device 100. After placing the glass slides 104, the user may initiate the Leishman staining procedure. The Leishman staining procedure may be selected via the human machine interface 124. Based on the staining procedure, the stepper motor 108 of the device 100 may move the slide tray 102 to a predefined position where a dryer 120 may be positioned. The dryer 120 may dry the blood specimen smeared on the glass slide 104. Once drying is complete, the slide tray 102 is moved to another predefined position where a first liquid dispenser 112 is positioned. The first liquid dispenser 112 may contain a methanolic mixture of polychromed methylene blue and eosin. The control system 122 may operate the first liquid dispenser 112 to dispense the said liquid and wait for a time period of two minutes. The methanol present in the stain may fixe the blood smear onto the glass slide 104. After that, the stepper motor 108may move the slide tray 102 to a second liquid dispenser 112. The second liquid dispenser 112 may contain distilled water. The control system 122 may operate the second liquid dispenser 112 to dispense predefined quantity of distilled water and wait for a time period of eight minutes. The stepper motor 108 may then move the slide tray 102 to a third liquid dispenser 112. The third liquid dispenser 112 may contain buffer phosphate solution. The third dispenser may dispense the buffer phosphate solution on the glass slide 104 to rinse the glass slide 104. After this step, the stepper motor 108 may move the slide tray102 to the dryer 120 for second drying. Once the drying is complete, the glass slide 104 with the blood specimen may be ready for microscopy

CLAIMS:We claim:

1. A portable automated slide staining device 100 for staining one or more glass slides 104 smeared with a biological specimen, the portable automated slide staining device 100 comprising:
a slide tray 102 configured to hold the one or more glass slides 104 smeared with the biological specimen;
a stepper motor 108 coupled to the slide tray 102, the stepper motor 108 is configured to selectively move the slide tray 102;
a plurality of liquid dispensers 112, each of the liquid dispensers 112 is filled with a liquid, and is configured to selectively dispense the liquid on the one or more glass slides104 smeared with the biological specimen;
a dryer 120 configured to blow dry air on the one or more glass slides 104 smeared with the biological specimen;
a control system 122 communicatively coupled to the stepper motor 108, the plurality of liquid dispensers 112 and the dryer 120, the control system 122 is configured to:
determine the position of each of the one or more glass slides 104 placed on the slide tray 102;
move the slide tray 102 so as to position the one or more glass slides 104 at predefined positions;
dispense predefined quantity of the liquid on each of the one or more glass slides 104 smeared with the biological specimen from each of the liquid dispensers 112 in a sequence;
operate the dryer 120 for drying the biological specimen on the one or more glass slides 104; and
control the timing of the operation of the slide tray 102, each of the liquid dispensers 112, and the dryer 120; and
a human machine interface 124 communicatively coupled to the control system 122 for inputting instructions to the control system 122, and executing the staining of the biological specimen.

2. The portable automated slide staining device 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the biological specimen is one of a blood specimen and a sputum specimen.

3. The portable automated slide staining device 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more glass slides 104 are arranged in a substantially horizontal position on the slide tray 102.

4. The portable automated slide staining device 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stepper motor 108 is configured to move the slide tray 102 in a rotational motion.

5. The portable automated slide staining device 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the liquid dispensers 112 includes a staining solution for staining the biological specimen.

6. The portable automated slide staining device 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control system 122 includes a memory module stored with a plurality of staining procedures for staining the biological specimen.

7. The portable automated slide staining device 100 as claimed in claim 6 wherein the staining procedures stored in the memory module includes a Ziehl–Neelsen staining procedure and a Leishman staining procedure.

8. The portable automated slide staining device 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the liquid dispensers 112 include a spray nozzle 114 to dispense the liquid.

9. The portable automated slide staining device 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predefined positions include position in proximity to the dryer 120 and the position in proximity to the each of the plurality of dispensers 112.