Summary
The present application describes a laboratory instrument which procures tiny (< 1mm) core samples of biological tissue from characteristic regions of interest in paraffin embedded biological tissue blocks. The core samples are placed in a regular array in a new paraffin block creating a tissue array of thousands of selected samples for analysis. This new array block may now be sectioned, creating up to 200 nearly identical slides each containing tiny discs of the original specimens. These slides can be used as starting material for molecular screening, such as for DNA and RNA in situ hybridization as well as immunohistological staining. With this new invention, investigators are provided with a way to construct a tissue array consisting of a much higher number of tissue specimens than previously possible. Also, this new device automates the process of creating arrays and eliminates tedious hand operations while avoiding the prior art problem of extensive damage to the donor blocks. Feasibility of this method and apparatus has been proven and an automated version of the original system is in development. This research has been published in Nature Medicine 1998 Jul 4(7): 844-847.
Feb. 1, 2012
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