Tissue specimen stage for an optical sectioning microscope

1. A tissue specimen stage for a microscope having an objective lens for imaging tissue comprising:

a window having a first surface with a spherical or non-spherical concave curvature, and a second surface opposite the first surface which follows the curvature of the first surface, wherein an excised tissue specimen is locatable on the first surface;

a carriage to which said window is mounted; and

a platform supporting the carriage and presenting said second surface of the window to the objective lens of a microscope, wherein said carriage is mounted to said platform for movement along two rotational axes so that said carriage movement follows the curvature of at least part of the first surface of the window while maintaining the optical geometry of the window with respect to the objective lens.

2. The tissue specimen stage according to claim 1 wherein said curvature of said first surface is a rotationally symmetric concave curvature.

3. The tissue specimen stage according to claim 1 wherein said curvature of said first surface is aspheric.

4. The tissue specimen stage according to claim 1 wherein curvature of said first surface forms a pocket for receiving said tissue specimen.

5. The tissue specimen stage according to claim 1 wherein said curvature of said first surface is spherical.

6. The tissue specimen stage according to claim 1 further comprising means for moving said carriage along said rotational axes.

7. The tissue specimen stage according to claim 1 further comprising a translation stage moveable along two orthogonal axes which corresponds to said two rotational axes of said carriage, in which said translation stage is mechanically coupled to said carriage to enable movement of said translation stage to move said carriage along one or both of said rotational axes.

8. The tissue specimen stage according to claim 1 wherein said carriage further comprises a first carriage member and a second carriage member in which each of said first and second carriage members is movable along a different one of said two rotational axes.

9. The tissue specimen stage according to claim 8 wherein said first carriage member is rotationally mounted to said platform for movement along a first of said rotational axes with respect to the platform, and said second carriage member is rotationally mounted to said first carriage member for movement along the second of said rotational axes.

10. The tissue specimen stage according to claim 9 wherein said first carriage member is motor driven along a first of said rotational axes with respect to the platform, and said second carriage member is motor driven along the second of said rotational axes with respect to the first carriage member.

11. The tissue specimen stage according to claim 9 further comprising a translation stage moveable along two orthogonal axes which correspond to said two rotational axes, said translation stage is mechanically coupled to said second carriage member to enable movement of one or both of said first and second carriage members along their respective rotational axes.

12. A tissue specimen receptacle comprising:

a window with a first surface with a spherical or non-spherical concave curvature, and a second surface opposite the first surface which follows the curvature of the first surface, wherein the first surface is adapted to at least approximate a portion of a curved surface of a non-histologically prepared tissue specimen when placed thereupon in which the tissue specimen is imagable through said window by an optical sectioning microscope, wherein the window is configured to rotate along two rotational axes such that an optical geometry of the window with respect to an objective lens of the microscope is maintained.

13. The tissue specimen receptacle according to claim 12 wherein said portion represents an edge along the tissue specimen where a cut was made in order to excise the tissue specimen from a patient.

14. The tissue specimen receptacle according to claim 12 further comprising means for compressing said tissue specimen against said window when said tissue specimen is present on said window.

15. The tissue specimen receptacle according to claim 12 wherein said first surface of said window is a rotationally symmetric concave curvature.

16. The tissue specimen receptacle according to claim 12 wherein said first surface of said window is spherical.

17. The tissue specimen receptacle according to claim 12 wherein said first surface of said window is aspheric.

18. The tissue specimen receptacle according to claim 12 further comprising a wall having an opening along which said window is disposed.

19. A method for presenting an excised tissue specimen to an objective lens of a microscope comprising the steps of:

rotating a window having a first surface with a spherical or non-spherical concave curvature and a second surface opposite the first surface which follows the curvature of the first surface, wherein an excised tissue specimen is locatable on said first surface, along two rotational axes following at least part of said curvature of said first surface; and

supporting said window with respect to an objective lens of a microscope, in which said rotating step enables the optical geometry of the window to be maintained between said window with respect to the objective lens.

20. An apparatus for presenting an excised tissue specimen to an objective lens of a microscope comprising:

a window having a first surface with a spherical or non-spherical concave curvature, and a second surface opposite the first surface which follows the curvature of the first surface, wherein an excised tissue specimen is locatable on said first surface; and

a stage for moving said window along two orthogonal rotational axes to follow the curvature of at least part of the first surface of the window while maintaining the optical geometry of the window with respect to the objective lens.