Patent ID: 10197479

Abstract:
Homogenous DNA or RNA cell blocks used as a standard and comprising uniformly distributed cells, or ratio of cells, for use as a positive control for a biomarker in immunohistochemistry slide scanning and image analysis. The cell blocks are made using a Homogenous Cell Mixture (HCM) apparatus comprising a rotating multi-tiers that de-clump and filter single cells downward to mix with a fixation liquid-3% agarose. The uniform rotation of the tiers is under the operational control of a motorized mechanism, and results in a cell mixture comprising a constant density of cells, which is then transferred into molds to make formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) cell blocks. The size of the molds is also determined based upon a computation that factors in the total number of cells (e.g. density) in a cell block that a user desires, and the total cell volume for a specific cell type selected.