JP4549912B2 - Biological tissue processing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a biological tissue processing apparatus that penetrates a biological tissue with a fixing solution, a dehydrating agent, an intermediate treatment agent, and paraffin in the preparation of a biological tissue section. The present invention relates to a method that enables preparation of a highly sensitive pathological tissue specimen.

Conventionally, for preparation of a biological tissue section for pathological diagnosis, formalin is used as a fixing solution, alcohol is used as a dehydrating agent, xylene is used as an intermediate processing agent, a fixing process using formalin from a biological tissue to a dehydrating process using alcohol, an intermediate processing process using xylene, After passing through processes such as a paraffin infiltration process with paraffin, paraffin filling is performed to produce a paraffin block. Thereafter, the paraffin block is sliced, attached to a slide glass, deparaffinized with xylene, dexylene, dealcoholized, etc., then stained with various staining methods and covered with a cover glass.

In recent years, ultrasonic irradiation has been performed in the process of fixing tissues with formalin, dehydration process with alcohol, intermediate treatment process with xylene, paraffin infiltration process with paraffin, etc., and the temperature at this time is maintained at about 60 ° C. It is now possible to produce a histopathological specimen for tissue diagnosis in a shorter time.

In a conventional apparatus that does not use ultrasonic waves, a treatment tank, a chemical solution tank, a rotary valve, a pipe, and the like are provided with heat retaining and heating means as necessary.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-163359 JP 1-16385

    It takes time to heat the fixative or dehydrating agent or intermediate treatment agent at room temperature to a temperature of 60 ° C. only with the heating means provided in the treatment tank, and the tissue embedding treatment time from tissue fixation to paraffin infiltration Therefore, it is desirable to keep the temperature in the chemical tank at 60 ° C, but the power consumption increases and the cost of electricity increases. In addition, since a flammable chemical solution is also used, it is not preferable to always keep the temperature at 60 ° C.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its means is that a fixing solution, a dehydrating agent, and an intermediate treatment agent are not normally heated but kept at room temperature or 40 ° C. to 50 ° C. and injected for a predetermined time before being poured into the treatment tank. It is characterized by heating to 60 ° C.

In the biological tissue processing apparatus of the present invention, the processing capacity of the apparatus does not drop due to the time required for heating, and heating is performed for the minimum necessary time. Therefore, safety is high and electricity costs can be saved.

The biological tissue processing apparatus of the present invention is provided with a fixing liquid tank, a dehydrating agent tank, all tanks of the intermediate processing agent tank, or a part of the tank, which can be heated, and the processing tank has the fixing liquid, the dehydrating agent or the intermediate processing. The liquid or agent to be injected is heated to about 60 ° C. for a certain time before the agent is injected.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a biological tissue processing apparatus of the present invention, and this example will be described in detail.

The biological tissue processing apparatus of the present invention comprises a processing tank 1, a fixed liquid tank 2, four dehydrating agent tanks 3, 4, 5, 6, two intermediate processing agent tanks 7, 8, and two paraffin tanks 9, 10. , The pump 11, the valve 12, and the switching valve 13, and the treatment tank 1 and each tank communicate with each other through a pipe 14 through the valve 12 and the switching valve 13.
Heaters 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 are laid in the treatment tank 1 and each tank, respectively.

First, in the fixing process, when the tissue processing apparatus is started, the heater 16 installed in the fixing liquid tank 2 is energized. After 3 minutes, when a message appears, when the tissue is manually set in the processing tank 1 and restarted, the switching valve 13 is connected to the fixed liquid tank 2. Next, the valve 12 is opened and the fixing solution is put into the treatment tank 1 by the pump 11. The treatment vessel 1 is provided with a sensor 25. When a liquid is detected, the valve 12 is closed, the pump 11 is stopped, and the heater 16 is shut off. In this state, ultrasonic waves are applied for 15 minutes to allow the fixative solution to penetrate into the tissue. After 15 minutes, the valve 12 is opened and the fixative is returned to the fixative tank 2.

In the next dehydration step 1, the switching valve 13 is connected to the decoloring agent tank 3, the valve 12 is opened, and the dehydrating agent is put into the treatment tank 1 by the pump 11. The heater 17 installed in the dehydrating agent tank 3 is energized 12 minutes after stopping the pump 11 in the fixing process, and is energized at least 3 minutes before the start of this process. When the liquid is detected by the sensor 25, the valve 12 is closed, the pump 11 is stopped, and the heater 17 is shut off. In this state, ultrasonic waves are irradiated for 5 minutes to allow the dehydrating agent to penetrate into the tissue. After 5 minutes, the valve 12 is opened and the dehydrating agent is returned to the dehydrating agent tank 3.

In the next dehydration step 2, the switching valve 13 is connected to the dehydrating agent tank 4, the valve 12 is opened, and the dehydrating agent is put into the treatment tank 1 by the pump 11. The heater 18 installed in the dehydrating agent tank 4 is energized 2 minutes after the pump 11 of the dehydration process 1 is stopped, and is energized 3 minutes or more before the process starts. When the liquid is detected by the sensor 25, the valve 12 is closed, the pump 11 is stopped, and the heater 18 is shut off. In this state, ultrasonic waves are irradiated for 5 minutes to allow the dehydrating agent to penetrate into the tissue. After 5 minutes, the valve 12 is opened and the dehydrating agent is returned to the dehydrating agent tank 4.

In the next dehydration step 3, the switching valve 13 is connected to the dehydrating agent tank 5, the valve 12 is opened, and the dehydrating agent is put into the treatment tank 1 by the pump 11. The heater 19 installed in the dehydrating agent tank 5 is energized 2 minutes after the pump 11 of the dehydration process 2 is stopped, and is energized at least 3 minutes before the start of this process. When the liquid is detected by the sensor 25, the valve 12 is closed, the pump 11 is stopped, and the heater 19 is shut off. In this state, ultrasonic waves are irradiated for 5 minutes to allow the dehydrating agent to penetrate into the tissue. After 5 minutes, the valve 12 is opened and the dehydrating agent is returned to the dehydrating agent tank 5.

In the next dehydration step 4, the switching valve 13 is connected to the dehydrating agent tank 6, the valve 12 is opened, and the dehydrating agent enters the treatment tank 1 with the pump 11. The heater 20 laid in the dehydrating agent tank 6 is energized 2 minutes after stopping the pump 11 in the dehydration process 3, and is energized 3 minutes or more before the process starts. When the liquid is detected by the sensor 25, the valve 12 is closed, the pump 11 is stopped, and the heater 20 is shut off. In this state, ultrasonic waves are irradiated for 5 minutes to allow the dehydrating agent to penetrate into the tissue. After 5 minutes, the valve 12 is opened and the dehydrating agent is returned to the dehydrating agent tank 6.

In the next intermediate processing step 1, the switching valve 13 is connected to the intermediate processing agent tank 7, the valve 12 is opened, and the intermediate processing agent is put into the processing tank 1 by the pump 11. The heater 21 installed in the intermediate treatment agent tank 7 is energized 2 minutes after the pump 11 in the dehydration process 4 is stopped, and is energized 3 minutes or more before the process starts. When the liquid is detected by the sensor 25, the valve 12 is closed, the pump 11 is stopped, and the heater 21 is shut off. In this state, ultrasonic treatment is applied for 5 minutes to infiltrate the tissue with the intermediate treatment agent. After 5 minutes, the valve 12 is opened and the intermediate treatment agent is returned to the intermediate treatment agent tank 7.

In the next intermediate treatment step 2, the switching valve 13 is connected to the intermediate treatment agent tank 8, the valve 12 is opened, and the intermediate treatment agent is put into the treatment tank 1 by the pump 11. The heater 22 installed in the intermediate treatment agent tank 8 is energized 2 minutes after stopping the pump 11 in the intermediate treatment process 1, and is energized 3 minutes or more before the start of this process. When the liquid is detected by the sensor 25, the valve 12 is closed, the pump 11 is stopped, and the heater 22 is shut off. In this state, ultrasonic treatment is applied for 5 minutes to infiltrate the tissue with the intermediate treatment agent. After 5 minutes, the valve 12 is opened and the intermediate treatment agent is returned to the intermediate treatment agent tank 8.

In the next paraffin infiltration step 1, the switching valve 13 is connected to the paraffin tank 9, the valve 12 is opened, and the paraffin is put into the treatment tank 1 by the pump 11. The heater 23 laid in the paraffin tank 9 is always energized, and the paraffin is kept at about 60 ° C. When the liquid is detected by the sensor 25, the valve 12 is closed and the pump 11 is stopped. In this state, paraffin is infiltrated into the tissue by irradiating ultrasonic waves for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, the valve 12 is opened and the paraffin is returned to the paraffin tank 9.

In the final paraffin infiltration step 2, the switching valve 13 is connected to the paraffin tank 10, the valve 12 is opened, and the paraffin is put into the treatment tank 1 by the pump 11. The heater 24 laid in the paraffin tank 10 is always energized, and the paraffin is kept at about 60 ° C. When the liquid is detected by the sensor 25, the valve 12 is closed and the pump 11 is stopped. In this state, paraffin is infiltrated into the tissue by irradiating ultrasonic waves for 10 minutes. Ten minutes later, a message indicating the end of processing appears, and the tissue is manually removed.

The heater 15 of the treatment tank 1 is always energized and keeps the treatment tank 1 at about 60 ° C.

The timing for energizing the heater is determined by experiment.

It is a figure which shows the example of a structure of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Processing tank 2 Fixed liquid tank 3 Dehydrating agent tank 4 Dehydrating agent tank 5 Dehydrating agent tank 6 Dehydrating agent tank 7 Intermediate processing agent tank 8 Intermediate processing agent tank 9 Paraffin tank 10 Paraffin tank 11 Pump 12 Valve 13 Switching valve 14 Pipe 15 Heater 16 Heater 17 Heater 18 Heater 19 Heater 20 Heater 21 Heater 22 Heater 23 Heater 24 Heater 25 Sensor 26 Ultrasonic Vibrator

Claims (1)

A treatment tank (1) having an ultrasonic irradiation means, a heater (15), and a sensor (25) for detecting liquid, a fixed liquid tank (2) having a heater (16) and containing a fixed liquid, and a heater (17,18,19,20), a dehydrating agent tank (3, 4, 5, 6) for containing a dehydrating agent, and a heater (21, 22) for containing an intermediate processing agent. A paraffin tank (9, 10) having an agent tank (7, 8) and a heater (23, 24) and containing paraffin; and the fixative, dehydrating agent, intermediate treatment agent, and paraffin, respectively. A pump (11) for sending the liquid from each tank to the treatment (1), the treatment with the fixing solution, the dehydrating agent, the intermediate treatment agent, and the paraffin is sequentially performed in the treatment tank (1), Organisms that allow paraffin to penetrate In the weaving processing apparatus, each of the heaters of the dehydrating agent tanks (3, 4, 5, 6) and the intermediate processing agent tanks (7, 8) has a processing liquid used in a previous processing step as the pump. After a predetermined time after being sent to the processing tank (1) by (11), the processing liquid stored in the tank is sent to the processing tank (1) by the pump (11). The energization is started at a time when the desired temperature can be reached by the time, and each of the heaters, after the processing liquid is sent to the processing tank (1) by the pump (11), A biological tissue processing apparatus characterized in that when the processing liquid is detected and the pump (11) stops liquid supply, the processing liquid is shut off .

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