Patent ID: 7618809

Claim:
An apparatus for constructing arrays of biological material from donor cores obtained from at least one donor block and placing the donor cores in an embedding medium carried by at least one recipient block, the apparatus comprising: a support platform for supporting a donor block and a recipient block, the support platform defining an X-Y plane; a punch platform extending in the Z-direction away from the support platform, the punch platform and the support platform displaceable in the X and Y directions with respect to one another for positioning the punch platform with respect to the support platform; a donor punch configured for coring the donor block, a recipient punch configured for coring the recipient block, and a stylus configured to remove cores from said donor and recipient punches; wherein the outer diameter of the recipient punch is less than the inner diameter of the donor punch to permit the recipient punch to slide or move inside the donor punch, and the stylus having an outer diameter sized to closely fit within the inner diameter of the recipient punch each of said donor punch, recipient punch, and stylus movably mounted on the punch platform for independent movement along the Z-direction towards and away from the support platform; and the recipient punch, the donor punch and the stylus arranged on the punch platform for coaxial movement along a common Z-axis, whereby the relative positions of the recipient punch, the donor punch, and the stylus in the X-Y directions remains effectively unchanged with respect to one another during operation of the apparatus.