Patent ID: 6699710
Filing Date: 2004-03-02
Classification: B01J,B01L,C12Q,G01N,G02B

Abstract:
An apparatus for preparing specimens for parallel analysis of sections of biological material arrays, comprising:a donor block holder for holding a tissue donor block in a donor position; and a first reciprocating punch positioned in relation to the holder to punch a tissue specimen from the tissue donor block when the donor block is in the donor position; a recipient block holder for holding a recipient block in a recipient position, wherein the recipient block comprises an array of receptacles, each of which is positionable in a preselected position in relation to the first reciprocating punch to deliver a tissue specimen from the first reciprocating punch into a receptacle in the preselected position; and a second reciprocating punch capable of being positioned relative to the recipient block for punching the array of receptacles in the recipient block, wherein the second reciprocating punch is different than the first reciprocating punch positioned to punch the specimen from the tissue donor block; and a positioner for positioning over the donor block a reference slide that includes at least one structure of interest, to align the at least one structure of interest in the reference slide with corresponding tissue specimen regions in the donor block.