Patent ID: 11971387
Assignee: VENTANA MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 9:
10. A computer-implemented method comprising: (a) repeatedly calculating a time-of-flight of the acoustic signals traversing through a biological specimen immersed in a cross-linking fixative solution until the calculated time-of-flight reaches a predetermined threshold value, wherein the cross-linking fixative solution is maintained at a first temperature ranging from between about 0° C. to about 15° C. while the time-of-flight is repeatedly calculated, wherein the calculating of the time-of-flight comprises: (i) measuring a triangle wave using a frequency sweep of the acoustic signal traversing through the biological tissue specimen immersed in the cross-linking fixative solution; (ii) comparing the measured triangle wave with a plurality of candidate triangle waves, wherein the plurality of candidate triangle waves are generated over a plurality of candidate frequencies and over a plurality of candidate phases; (iii) identifying a candidate triangle wave of the plurality of triangle waves that is a closest-match to the measured triangle wave; and (b) passively or actively heating the cross-linking fixative solution to a second temperature greater than 15° C. after the predetermined threshold value is reached.