Patent ID: 7875242

Claim:
A method of treating hematological, cytological, or histological slides comprising: a) placing a first set of specimen slides into a first heating station, the first set of specimen slides comprising a wax coating, the first heating station comprising a first source of hot air; b) blowing the hot air from the first source on the first set of specimen slides in the first heating station, thereby heating the first set of specimen slides to a first temperature to melt the wax coating off of the first set of specimen slides; c) placing a second set of specimen slides into a second heating station, the second set of specimen slides comprising a wax coating, the second heating station comprising a second source of hot air; d) blowing the hot air from the second source on the second set of specimen slides in the second heating station, thereby heating the second set of specimen slides to a second temperature independent from the first temperature to melt the wax coating off of the second set of specimen slides; e) removing each of the first and second sets of specimen slides from its respective heating station; f) placing each of the first and second sets of specimen slides into a plurality of processing stations in a predetermined non-sequential order; g) placing the first set of specimen slides into the first heating station after processing the first set of specimen slides; h) blowing the hot air from the first source on the first set of specimen slides in the first heating station to dry a reagent from the processing off of the first set of specimen slides; i) placing the second set of specimen slides into the second heating station after processing the second set of specimen slides; j) blowing the hot air from the second source on the second set of specimen slides in the second heating station to dry a reagent from the processing off of the second set of specimen slides.