Standardizing diffusion of a fluid into tissue
Inventors
Bauer, Daniel • Chafin, David • Otter, Michael • Theiss, Abbey
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-12360079-B2
Publication Date
2025-07-15
Expiration Date
Abstract
Disclosed are a system and method for evaluating a tissue sample that has been removed from a subject. Movement of fluid through the tissue sample is monitored by measuring time of flight of acoustic waves passed through the tissue sample. A system for performing the method can include a transmitter that outputs the energy and a receiver configured to detect the transmitted energy. Using the disclosed method and system, an optimized protocol for ensuring adequate distribution of the fluid throughout a variety of tissue types and/or sample sizes can be developed and utilized.
Core Innovation
The invention relates to optimizing a fixation of a tissue sample by acoustically monitoring diffusion of a fluid through the tissue sample. An acoustic device with one or more transmitters emits ultrasonic waves at an intensity of less than 1 W/cm², and one or more receivers detect the emitted ultrasonic waves after they have traveled through the tissue sample. The tissue sample is immersed within the fluid during monitoring.
A computing device repeatedly measures in real time a time-of-flight of the emitted ultrasonic waves while the tissue sample is immersed within the fluid at one or more temperatures. Based on the monitoring of diffusion at the one or more temperatures, the computing device determines a time when the fluid has diffused through at least a predetermined portion of the tissue sample having the first tissue type. The determination is tied to the time-of-flight measurements of the ultrasonic waves.
The described approach supports fixation standardization by using the acoustic diffusion monitoring to set a diffusion time for immersion fixation. The diffusion time is selected based on time-of-flight modeling, including fitting a time-of-flight curve to a single-exponential model and using a decay constant, including a slowest decay constant. Using the resulting standardized diffusion time, the document discusses immersion fixation including a cold plus warm two-temperature aldehyde fixation.
Claims Coverage
The provided content describes one independent claim (clm-00001) describing a system that acoustically monitors fluid diffusion through a tissue sample via real-time ultrasonic time-of-flight at one or more temperatures, and determines a diffusion time for fixation based on reaching a predetermined diffusion portion. The inventive features are concentrated in the combination of low-intensity ultrasonic acoustic monitoring, real-time time-of-flight diffusion monitoring, and determining a diffusion time for at least a predetermined portion of the tissue.
Low-intensity acoustic diffusion monitoring through immersed tissue
An acoustic device with one or more transmitters configured to emit ultrasonic waves at an intensity of less than 1 W/cm² and one or more receivers configured to detect the ultrasonic waves emitted by the one or more transmitters, where the tissue sample is monitored while immersed within the fluid.
Real-time ultrasonic time-of-flight monitoring at one or more temperatures
Monitoring diffusion of a fluid at one or more temperatures through the tissue sample by repeatedly measuring in real-time a time-of-flight of the emitted ultrasonic waves that have traveled through the tissue sample while the tissue sample is immersed within the fluid.
Determining a diffusion time based on reaching a predetermined portion
Determining a time when the fluid has diffused through at least a predetermined portion of the tissue sample based on the monitoring of the diffusion of the fluid at the one or more temperatures through the tissue sample.
Across the provided independent claim, the core coverage is a system that uses a low-intensity ultrasonic acoustic device to repeatedly measure real-time time-of-flight during immersion at one or more temperatures, and then determines a diffusion time when the fluid has reached at least a predetermined portion of the tissue sample.
Stated Advantages
Documented Applications
Optimizing and standardizing immersion fixation of tissue samples using an acoustic diffusion-monitoring approach that supports determining a standardized diffusion time based on time-of-flight measurements and modeling, including immersion fixation described as cold plus warm two-temperature aldehyde fixation.
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