Patent ID: 8609431

Claim:
A method of staging a tissue sample cassette, including a cassette body and a lid, from an upper position in a frame used during a tissue embedding process to a lower position in the frame, the method comprising: coupling the cassette with the frame such that the cassette is in the upper position and positively stopped at the upper position by first structure on a wall of the frame, the cassette including a tissue sample within the cassette body and enclosed by the lid; moving the cassette relative to the frame to the lower position by selectively engaging the cassette with multiple fingers of a staging mechanism separate from the cassette, and applying external force to the cassette with the fingers in a direction to move the fingers from the upper position toward the lower position; and retaining the cassette in the lower position using second structure on the wall of the frame, such that the cassette is exposed for embedding the cassette in an embedding medium and subsequently slicing the tissue sample embedded in the embedding medium.