JP2011185898A - Medical examination cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a medical examination cassette that prevents a gap from occurring during chemical processing and a specimen flows out, reduces the buoyancy during chemical dipping of a cassette, and has high chemical permeability and the uniformity of chemical processing. <P>SOLUTION: The medical examination cassette includes a cassette body and lid made of chemical resistant material. The cassette body 2 includes many through holes 5, and at least one specimen storage section 2a opening upward. The lid includes many through holes 5, and at least one swelling section 3a opening downward. An inner engaging side wall 4e is disposed circumferentially on one of the opening on the side of the specimen storage section 2a and the opening on the side of the swelling section 3a, and an outer engaging side wall 4f is disposed circumferentially on the other. Both of the inner engaging side wall 4e and outer engaging side wall 4f are substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface section 4a of the cassette body and the top surface section 4c of the lid. During closing of the lid, an independent space 4 is formed of the engaging section of the inner engaging side wall 4e with the outer engaging side wall 4f, the swelling section 3a of the lid, and the specimen storage section 2a of the cassette body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical examination cassette used for preparation of a microscope specimen for medical examination, and more specifically, a specimen does not flow out from a gap during chemical treatment, has excellent chemical permeability, and evenly dispenses a specimen with a chemical. The present invention relates to a cassette for medical examination that can be processed.

  As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the conventional cassette of this type includes a cassette body C1 made of a chemical-resistant synthetic resin and a lid C2. The cassette body C1 is a rectangular container having an open top surface, and has a plurality of through holes C4 on the bottom surface, and is a plate-shaped recording portion that is inclined outwardly toward the bottom surface on the outer side of one side wall on the short side. C1b is provided. The lid C2 is a detachable plate-like body and has a large number of through holes C4 on the plate surface.

  In order to prepare a microscope specimen using the cassette C, first, as shown in FIG. 10, the collected specimen S is accommodated in the cassette body C1, a lid C2 is attached, and the subject's body is attached to the recording section C1b. Record your name, etc.

  Subsequently, the specimen S is washed with water through the through-hole C4, the moisture of the specimen S is removed with alcohol, and affinity with liquid paraffin P described later is imparted with xylene.

  Next, liquid paraffin P is placed in a stainless steel embedding tray T as shown in FIG. 8, and the specimen S is taken out from the cassette body C <b> 1 and placed in the liquid paraffin P to allow the specimen S to permeate the liquid paraffin. Subsequently, the cassette body C1 is placed on the step of the tray T, and the liquid paraffin P is poured onto the sample S until the bottom surface of the cassette body C1 is immersed in the liquid paraffin P (see FIG. 11).

  After the liquid paraffin P is solidified, the tray T is removed to obtain a cassette block in which the paraffin P in which the specimen S is embedded adheres to the bottom surface of the cassette body C1.

  Next, although not shown, the cassette block is turned over and fixed on the microtome. Subsequently, a portion in which the specimen S of paraffin P is embedded is sliced, and the obtained thin piece is stained and subjected to other predetermined processing to obtain a microscope specimen.

  However, in the cassette C having the above-described shape, the through hole C4 is provided only on the bottom surface portion of the cassette body C1 and the lid C2, and is not provided on the side wall. When the chemical treatment efficiency is insufficient and the cassette is immersed in the chemical solution, the air in the cassette is difficult to escape, so the buoyancy is large and it cannot be immersed easily. There is a problem of inefficiency.

  Further, although the above cassette shows a case where the number of sample accommodating portions is one, when the inside of the cassette body C1 is partitioned by a wall and has a plurality of sample accommodating portions, the number of sample accommodating portions is increased. As the area of the wall not provided with the through hole increases, the above phenomenon becomes more serious.

  In order to eliminate such drawbacks, as shown in FIG. 12, an independent space portion is formed by bringing the specimen storage portion C1a provided in the cassette body C1 into contact with the bulging portion C2a provided in the lid C2. The sample container C1a has an arcuate or tapered side wall portion that extends from the bottom surface toward the opening, and the bulging portion C2a is an arcuate or tapered side wall portion that extends from the top toward the opening. A cassette for medical examination has been proposed (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  However, in such a cassette, when the sample S is processed by applying pressure to the chemical solution by an automatic embedding apparatus or the like, there is a case where the sample S flows out from the sample storage unit. That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the sample storage portion C1a of the cassette main body C1 and the bulging portion C2a of the lid C2 for forming the space portion are each tapered like the tapered recess C1t spreading toward the opening side. Since the convex portion C2t is configured to come into contact with the convex portion C2t, when a pressure is applied to cause the chemical solution to flow into the space portion and the pressure in the space portion C3 increases, the lid C2 is attached to the cassette body C1. As a result, a gap O is formed between the specimen storage part C1a and the bulging part C2a, and the specimen S flows out of the specimen container C1a and bulges C2a. Or messed up. Such an accident can be prevented by lowering the liquid pressure of the chemical solution processing or by manual processing. In this case, however, the processing efficiency is lowered, and a large amount of samples can be processed efficiently at one time. It becomes impossible.

  In the above cassette, a through hole is provided in the central portion between the sample container and the sample container, so that the through hole is close to the sample container. As a result, the sample is stored in the sample container with tweezers. There is a risk of accidental dropping from the through hole.

JP-A-8-285745 JP 2001-289755 A

  The present invention solves the problems as described above, the specimen does not flow out of the gap or drop from the cassette during the chemical treatment, can be easily immersed in the chemical, and further, the permeability of the chemical and the chemical It is an object of the present invention to provide a medical examination cassette excellent in processing uniformity.

  In order to achieve the above object, claim 1 of the present invention comprises a cassette main body made of a chemical-resistant material and a lid, and the cassette main body has at least one specimen containing portion that opens upward, The specimen storage part is composed of a bottom face part having a large number of through holes and a lower part of the side wall, the lower part of the side wall is arcuate or tapered extending from the bottom face part toward the opening side, and the lid has at least a bulging part opening downward. The bulging portion includes a top surface portion having a large number of through holes and an upper portion of the side wall, and the upper portion of the side wall has an arc shape or a taper shape extending from the top surface portion toward the opening side. An inner fitting side wall is provided around one of the opening and the opening on the bulging part side, and an outer fitting side wall is provided around the other side. Both the inner fitting side wall and the outer fitting side wall are provided on the cassette body. Is substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface and the top surface of the lid, A medical examination cassette characterized in that an independent space portion is formed which includes a fitting sidewall portion of the inner and outer fitting sidewalls, a bulging portion of the lid, and a specimen storage portion of the cassette body at the time of the lid. Is the content.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the length of the overlapping portion of the inner fitting side wall and the outer fitting side wall when the lid is closed is ¼ to ½ of the height of the space portion. The medical examination cassette described in 1.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, support plate portions are respectively provided between the outer frame of the cassette body and the specimen storage portion, and between the outer frame and the bulging portion of the lid, and each of the support plate portions penetrates the support plate portion. The hole according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the lid is attached to the cassette body, the through hole of the cassette body and the through hole of the lid come into contact with each other and are in communication with each other. Contains a medical examination cassette.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a projection for holding a space on the upper surface of the outer frame of the lid, and a plurality of protrusions extending in the orthogonal direction on the upper surface of the bulging portion. Item 4. The medical examination cassette according to any one of Items 1 to 3.

  The medical test cassette according to the present invention has a through hole in the top surface portion and the side wall upper portion of the bulging portion of the lid, and the bottom surface portion and the side wall lower portion of the specimen housing portion of the cassette body, so that the permeability of the drug solution is good, Chemical treatment can be performed effectively. In addition, since both the inner fitting side wall and the outer fitting side wall are substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface portion of the cassette body and the top surface portion of the lid in the fitting side wall portion, the pressure is applied by an automatic embedding device or the like to the space from the through hole. When the chemical solution is allowed to flow into the section, even if the lid is slightly lifted, there is no gap for the specimen to flow out, so that the valuable specimen is not lost or messed up.

  If the length of the overlapping portion of the inner fitting side wall and the outer fitting side wall at the time of closing is set to 1/4 or more of the height of the space portion, the specimen flows out at a normal pressure used in an automatic embedding apparatus or the like. There is no gap. Further, if the length of the overlapping portion is ½ or less of the height of the space part, the upper part of the side wall and the lower part of the side wall can be made sufficiently large, and a large number of through holes can be provided. Sufficient chemical permeability is ensured.

By providing through holes in the cassette body and the lid that communicate with each other, air staying below the cassette body is discharged through the through holes, reducing buoyancy and making it easier to immerse the cassette in the chemical solution. Processing work is performed efficiently.
In addition, the through hole is formed between the outer frame of the cassette body and the specimen container, and the support plate between the outer frame and the bulging part of the lid, so that the through hole can accommodate the specimen at the center of the cassette body. Since it is away from the part, it is possible to prevent an accident that the specimen is accidentally dropped from the through hole when the specimen is accommodated in the specimen accommodating part.

  By projecting a projection for holding the gap on the upper surface of the outer frame of the lid, the chemical solution can be introduced from the gap between the stacked cassettes. Also, a plurality of projections extending in the orthogonal direction on the upper surface of the bulging portion of the lid By providing the protrusions, the chemical liquid that has flowed into the gaps of the cassette can be efficiently introduced into the space.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing Embodiment 1 of the cassette of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view in which one space part in FIG. 2 is enlarged. FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing a state where the lid is lifted. 6A and 6B show Embodiment 2 of the cassette of the present invention, in which FIG. 6A is a plan view and FIG. Fig.7 (a) is the elements on larger scale which expanded the one bulging part in Example 2, FIG.7 (b) shows another example of arrangement | positioning of the protrusion in (a). FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the embedding tray. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional cassette. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a sample is put in a conventional cassette. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a method for producing a cassette block. FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing another conventional cassette. 13 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state where the lid of the cassette of FIG. 12 is lifted.

The present invention is a medical examination cassette comprising a cassette body made of a chemical resistant material and a lid. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the cassette body 2 has a specimen storage portion 2a that opens upward. There is at least one, and the specimen storage portion 2a is composed of a bottom surface portion 4a having a large number of through holes 5 and a side wall lower portion 4b, and the side wall lower portion 4b is arcuate or tapered extending from the bottom surface portion 4a toward the opening side. Yes,
The lid has at least one bulging portion 3a that opens downward, and the bulging portion 3a includes a top surface portion 4c having a large number of through holes 5 and a side wall upper portion 4d, and the side wall upper portion 4d extends from the top surface portion 4c. It has an arc shape or taper shape that spreads toward the opening side,
An inner fitting side wall 4e is provided around one of the opening on the specimen container 2a side and the opening on the bulging part 3a side, and an outer fitting side wall 4f is provided around the other side, and the inner fitting side wall 4e. And the outer fitting side wall 4f are both substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface portion 4a of the cassette body 2 and the top surface portion 4c of the lid 3,
When the lid is closed, an independent space portion 4 is formed which includes a fitting side wall portion of the inner fitting side wall 4e and the outer fitting side wall 4f, a bulging portion 3a of the lid, and a specimen storage portion 2a of the cassette body. And

  In the medical examination cassette of the present invention, the cassette body 2 and the lid 3 are both made of chemical-resistant synthetic resin. Examples of synthetic resins that can be used in the present invention include polyacetal resins, fluororesins, polycarbonate resins, polyamide (nylon) resins, and polyester resins.

  In the present invention, the cassette body 2 has at least one specimen storage portion 2a (six in the illustrated example) that opens upward. The specific number is not particularly limited, but if it exceeds 9, the size of the specimen storage unit becomes too small, the size of the specimen to be stored is limited, and workability with tweezers is reduced. About 9 is preferable.

  In the present invention, the specimen storage portion 2a includes a bottom surface portion 4a provided with a large number of through holes 5, a side wall lower portion 4b, and an external fitting side wall 4f, and the side wall lower portion 4b is arcuate or tapered extending from the bottom surface portion 4a toward the opening side. It is made into a shape. The size and shape of the through-hole 5 are not particularly limited, but it is preferable that the through-hole 5 is large as long as the specimen S does not flow out of the through-hole 5 because the permeability of the chemical solution is increased. The number of the through holes is not particularly limited, but is preferably as long as the strength of the side wall lower portion 4b and the bottom surface portion 4a does not become too weak.

  The shape of the side wall lower portion 4b is an arc shape or a taper shape (taper shape in the illustrated example) extending from the bottom surface portion 4a toward the opening side. Can be picked up easily. In the present invention, the side wall lower portion 4b and the bottom surface portion 4a do not need to be clearly distinguished. For example, the bottom surface portion 4a and the side wall lower portion 4b are combined to have an arc shape, elliptical arc shape, hemispherical shape, dish shape, etc. It may be said.

  The shape of the opening of the specimen container 2a is not particularly limited, and may be any of a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, etc., but many specimen containers 2a can be arranged, the internal volume of the specimen container 2a can be increased, and As a shape that is easy to handle even if the sample S is small, a rectangular shape with rounded corners is desirable (this shape is adopted in the illustrated example).

  In the present invention, the lid has at least one bulging portion 3a that opens downward. As will be described later, since the bulging portion 3a is for forming the space portion 4 together with the specimen accommodating portion 2a, the number, shape, size and the like of the bulging portion 3a are the same as those of the specimen accommodating portion 2a. Determine according to the number, shape, size, etc.

  The bulging portion 3a includes a top surface portion 4c having a large number of through-holes 5 and a side wall upper portion 4d, and the side wall upper portion 4d has an arc shape or a taper shape extending from the top surface portion 4c toward the opening side. In other words, the shape of the specimen storage portion 2a is the same as that upside down, but the bulging portion 3a of the lid increases the surface area of the upper surface side of the space portion 4 as will be described later. Since the purpose is to increase the number and improve the permeability of the chemical solution, it may have a shallower shape than the sample storage part 2a for storing the sample.

  In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the inner-fitting side wall is provided on either the opening on the specimen container 2a side or the opening on the bulging portion 3a side (in the illustrated example, on the bulging portion 3a side). 4e is provided around, and an outer fitting side wall 4f is provided around the other side (in the illustrated example, the specimen storage unit 2a side). When the sample is treated with a chemical solution, the inner fitting side wall 4e and the outer fitting side wall 4f are fitted to form an independent space portion 4 including the fitting side wall portion, the bulging portion 3a, and the sample containing portion 2a. Is configured to do.

  In this space portion 4, the inner fitting side wall 4e and the outer fitting side wall 4f are both substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface portion 4a of the cassette body 2 and the top surface portion 4c of the lid 3, so an automatic embedding device or the like is used. Even when the lid 3 is slightly lifted from the cassette body 2 by applying pressure to the chemical solution, there is no gap between the lid 3 and the cassette body 2 as shown in FIG. The outflow can be surely prevented.

  The length of the overlapping portion of the fitting side wall portion, that is, the inner fitting side wall 4e and the outer fitting side wall 4f at the time of closing, can sufficiently increase the side wall upper portion 4d and the side wall lower portion 4b, and has a little lid. Even if it floats up, it is sufficient that the gap does not occur. Specifically, it is preferably about 1/4 to 1/2 of the height of the space. If the length of the overlapping portion of the inner fitting side wall 4e and the outer fitting side wall 4f at the time of closing is set to 1/4 or more of the height of the space portion 4, the specimen can be used at a normal pressure used in an automatic embedding apparatus or the like. The lid does not float so large that there is a gap through which the water flows out. Further, if the length of the overlapped portion is ½ or less of the height of the space portion, the side wall upper portion 4d and the side wall lower portion 4b can be made sufficiently large and the number of the through holes 5 can be made sufficiently large. Sufficient chemical liquid permeability into the portion 4 is ensured.

In the present invention, the through hole 7 can be provided in the cassette body 2 and the lid 3 as necessary. That is, in the case of the medical examination cassette 1 of the present invention, air is likely to stay below the cassette body 2 and the buoyancy of the air makes it difficult to immerse the cassette 1 in the chemical solution. If the through-hole 7 is provided in the lid 3, the air is discharged and the cassette can be easily immersed in the chemical solution. However, in order for this through-hole 7 to function, when the lid 3 is attached to the cassette body 2, the through-hole 7 so that the through-hole 7 of the cassette body and the through-hole 7 of the lid are in contact with each other and are in communication with each other. 7 need to be arranged.
In order to prevent the risk of accidentally dropping the sample S from the through-hole 7 when the sample S is accommodated in the sample-accommodating portion 2a with tweezers, the through-hole 7 is spaced a sufficient distance from the sample-accommodating portion 2a. Is more preferable.

In the present invention, a support plate 6 is provided between the outer frame 2b of the cassette body and the sample container 2a to support the sample container 2a (FIG. 3), and the outer frame 3b and the bulge 3a of the lid. A support plate portion 6 for supporting the bulging portion 3a can be provided between them (FIGS. 1 and 3). A sufficient space can be formed between the specimen storage part 2a and the outer frame 2b by the support plate part 6. By providing the through hole 7 in the support plate part 6, the through hole 7 and the specimen storage part 2a Therefore, even if the through hole 7 is made larger than the sample, the risk of dropping the sample S from the through hole 7 is reduced. Since this risk decreases as the distance between the specimen container 2a and the through hole 7 increases, it is preferable to increase the distance between the specimen container 2a and the through hole 7 by providing the through hole 7 closer to the outer frame 2b. .
Further, on the support plate portion 6, characters, symbols, etc. for identifying the sample S and the sample storage portion 2a can be stamped or described as necessary.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, a protrusion 3c for holding a gap may be provided on the upper surface of the outer frame 2b of the lid 3. By providing such a projection 3c, a gap is formed between the cassettes stacked one above the other or between the cassettes arranged horizontally, so that the chemical liquid for sample processing flows through the upper and lower or left and right cassettes 1. In addition, since it flows from the gap between the cassettes 1, the processing efficiency of the sample S is increased and the permeation of the chemical solution is uniform, so that the sample is processed uniformly.
In this case, the chemical solution that has flowed in from the gap between the stacked cassettes 1 flows straight between the upper and lower cassettes 1 and easily passes through the surface of the through hole 5, and may flow out from another gap. Protruding 3d is provided on the upper surface of the bulging portion 3a to change the flow of the chemical solution to facilitate the flow of the chemical solution into the space 4, and to increase the chemical treatment effect by changing the flow of the chemical solution from laminar flow to turbulent flow. preferable. In addition, it is preferable to provide a plurality of protrusions 3d in the orthogonal direction so as to change the flow regardless of the direction in which the chemical solution flows from the turbulent flow.
In addition, in the example shown in FIG. 6, the example which combined the two protrusion 3d provided in the orthogonal direction and made it cross-shaped is shown. (The figure which expanded the bulging part 3a to Fig.7 (a) is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and two protrusions may be provided separately as shown in FIG. 7 (b). .

As described above, the medical test cassette according to the present invention does not cause a gap in the specimen container even during the treatment with the chemical solution, so that the specimen does not flow out of the gap, and reduces the buoyancy when the cassette is immersed in the chemical solution. Since the through-hole for this purpose is provided separately from the specimen container, troubles such as accidentally dropping the specimen from the through-hole when the specimen is housed in the specimen container are also prevented.
Furthermore, by providing a projection for holding the gap on the upper surface of the outer frame of the lid and the bulging portion, the chemical solution is excellent in permeability and uniform chemical treatment is performed, and furthermore, by providing the projections to be orthogonal, The permeability of the chemical solution and the uniformity of the chemical treatment can be further enhanced.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Medical examination cassette 2 Cassette main body 2a Specimen storage part 2b Outer frame of cassette main body 3 Lid 3a Swelling part 3b Outer frame of lid 3c Space projection 3d Projection 4 Space 4a Bottom surface 4b Side wall lower part 4c Top surface 4d side wall upper part 4e inner fitting side wall 4f outer fitting side wall 5 through hole 6 support plate part 7 through hole S specimen C conventional cassette for medical examination C1 cassette body C1a specimen storage part C1b recording part C1t tapered recess C2 lid C2a bulging part C2t Taper-shaped convex part C3 Space part C4 Through hole T Embedding tray P Paraffin

Claims (4)

A cassette body made of a chemical resistant material and a lid,
The cassette main body has at least one sample storage portion that opens upward, and the sample storage portion includes a bottom surface portion having a large number of through holes and a side wall lower portion, and the side wall lower portion extends from the bottom surface portion toward the opening side. Arc or tapered,
The lid has at least one bulging portion that opens downward, and the bulging portion includes a top surface portion having a large number of through holes and an upper portion of the side wall, and the upper portion of the side wall has an arc shape extending from the top surface portion toward the opening side. Or taper,
An inner fitting side wall is provided around one of the opening on the specimen container side and the opening on the bulging part side, and an outer fitting side wall is provided around the other side. Both are substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface of the cassette body and the top surface of the lid,
When the lid is closed, an independent space portion is formed which includes a fitting side wall portion of the inner and outer fitting side walls, a bulging portion of the lid, and a specimen storage portion of the cassette body. cassette.   2. The medical examination cassette according to claim 1, wherein the length of the overlapping portion of the inner fitting side wall and the outer fitting side wall at the time of closing is 1/4 to 1/2 of the height of the space portion.   Support plate portions are provided between the outer frame of the cassette body and the specimen storage portion, and between the outer frame and the bulging portion of the lid, and the support plate portions are respectively provided with through holes. The cassette for medical examination according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the lid is attached to the cassette body, the through hole of the cassette body and the through hole of the lid come into contact with each other and are in communication with each other.   4. A protrusion for spacing is projected on the upper surface of the outer frame of the lid, and a plurality of protrusions extend in the orthogonal direction on the upper surface of the bulging portion. The medical test cassette described.

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