Patent ID: 8025842

Claim:
A sliced specimen preparing apparatus comprising: a specimen block transfer section that adjusts a height position of a specimen block and transfers the specimen block; a cutter section having a cutter and a blade, wherein the cutter is movable in an extending direction of the blade; a detector that detects a position of the blade of the cutter in a direction orthogonal to a transfer direction of the specimen block; a carrier tape guide section that carries and moves a thin slice of the specimen block sliced by the cutter on a surface of a carrier tape; a slice sticking part that makes a portion of the carrier tape that carries the thin slice come close to a surface of a slide and thereby allows the thin slice carried by the carrier tape to be transferred onto the surface of the slide; and an operation controller that controls the specimen block transfer section, the cutter section, the detector, the carrier tape guide section, and the slice sticking part for continuously preparing the sliced specimen, wherein the operation controller prepares the thin slice by automatically and continuously slicing a surface layer portion of the specimen block by the cutter and transfers the thin slice to the slide, wherein the operation controller further controls the relative movement of the specimen block transfer section and the cutter of the cutter section for adjusting the surface layer portion of the specimen block to obtain the thin slice; wherein the operation controller further controls the height position of the specimen block to a cutting surface after the slicing of the specimen block to a next sliceable position, such that the slicing operation is continuous; wherein the cutter is moved in the extending direction of the blade every time a previously set number of times of the slicing operation is completed, such that the cutter firstly contacts at a contacting area of a blade edge of the cutter with the specimen block after the adjustment of the height position is sequentially changed, and thereafter the height position of the blade edge of the cutter after the change in a thickness direction of the blade is measured by the detector, and based on the measurement information of the detector, the sliceable position is corrected and aligned to a position apart from the height position of the blade edge of the cutter after the change, by a thickness of the sliced specimen in the thickness direction of the blade, and then the slicing operation is resumed.