Tissue cassette reader
An apparatus including: a base; a carriage coupled to the base and projecting a distance above the base, the carriage operable to contain a mobile phone comprising a camera array in a position such that the camera array faces in a direction of the base; and a controller including machine-readable instructions operable to direct a movement of one of the carriage and the base in a direction with respect to the other along an axis. A method including: placing a mobile phone in a carriage; placing a container below the carriage, the container comprising a plurality of tissue cassettes; and capturing by the mobile phone of an image of the identifier on each of the plurality of tissue cassettes while the plurality of tissue cassettes remain in the container. Also, a machine-readable medium including instructions to cause a mobile to stitch successive captured images of identifiers into an overall image.
1 . An apparatus to identify an identifier on a tissue cassette in an assembly of a plurality of tissue cassettes comprising:
a base operable to be mounted on a tabletop;
a carriage coupled to the base and projecting a distance above the base; and
a controller coupled to the carriage, the controller comprising machine-readable instructions operable to direct a movement of one of the carriage and the base in a direction with respect to the other along an axis; and
a mobile phone contained in the carriage, the mobile phone comprising (1) a camera array in a position such that the camera array faces in a direction of the base and (2) machine-readable instructions to:
direct an automatic capture of images of an identifier on each tissue cassette contained in a container of an assembly of a plurality of tissue cassettes arranged in the base at a rate providing for more than one image of an identifier on each tissue cassette in the plurality of tissue cassettes to be successively captured and wherein each capture of images encompasses a field of view that is less than an area of the container; and
read the identifier on each tissue cassette in each captured image; and
discard or ignore any identifier in a captured image that has been read from a previous image.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the base comprises an orientation designation for a container operable to contain an assembly of a plurality of cassettes.
3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the direction of movement of the one of the carriage and the base is operable to allow the capture of images by the camera of the mobile phone of identifiers on a plurality of tissue cassettes in a container positioned below the mobile phone in the carriage.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor bar coupled to the carriage, the sensor bar comprising one or more photoelectric sensors, the one or more photoelectric sensors comprising an emitter for emitting light in a field of view of a camera array of a mobile phone contained in the carriage and a receiver for receiving reflected emitted light.
5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the sensor bar comprises a plurality of photoelectric sensors arranged linearly on the sensor bar and spaced to correspond to a spacing of tissue cassettes arranged in rows in a basket positioned below a mobile phone in the carriage.
6 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the carriage is operable to move in the direction with respect to the base and the sensor bar is operable to be moved with the carriage.
7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising at least one light source coupled to the carriage operable to emit light from the at least one light source at the base.
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a tray operable to be removably positioned in the base, the tray comprising dimensions to accommodate a container operable to contain an assembly of a plurality of cassettes.
9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein in the tray is operable to move in a direction along an axis orthogonal to the axis of the movement of one of the carriage and the base.
10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a charger coupled to the carriage and operable to charge a mobile phone contained in the carriage.
11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the charger is operable to provide a wireless charging connection for a mobile phone.
12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable instructions associated with the controller comprise instructions to move the one of the carriage and the base in a direction with respect to the other along the axis based on instructions received from the mobile phone contained in the carriage.
13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
the mobile phone comprises non-transitory machine-readable instructions operable to direct the one of the carriage and the base to move in a direction with respect to the other along the axis.
14 . A method comprising:
placing a mobile phone in a carriage that is coupled to and projects a distance above a base;
placing a container below the carriage, the container comprising a plurality of tissue cassettes, wherein each of the plurality of tissue cassettes comprises an identifier on a front face thereof, with the front face of each of the plurality of tissue cassettes facing the carriage;
successively capturing by the mobile phone of more than one image of the identifier on each of the plurality of tissue cassettes while the plurality of tissue cassettes remain in the container while one of the carriage and the base move with respect to the other such that each of the more than one image of the identifier on each of the plurality of tissue cassettes is captured in a distinct field of view of the mobile phone that is less than an area of the container;
reading each of the successively captured more than one image of the identifier on each of the plurality of tissue cassettes; and
discarding or ignoring any identifier that has been read by a previously captured image.
15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
reading by the mobile phone of the captured identifier on each of the plurality of tissue cassettes.
16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein successively capturing more than one image comprises capturing a first image of a first area of the container before capturing a second image of a second area of the container and a portion of the second area overlaps a portion of the first area.
17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising stitching by the mobile phone of an overall image of the one or more cassettes in the container from the successively captured images.
18 . A machine-readable medium comprising non-transitory instructions that when executed by a mobile phone comprise a method comprising:
directing an apparatus comprising a carriage coupled to and projecting a distance above a base to move one of the carriage and the base in a direction with respect to the other along an axis;
in response to the movement, capturing successive images by the mobile phone in the carriage of an area below the carriage comprising a container, the container comprising a plurality of tissue cassettes, wherein each of the plurality of tissue cassettes comprises an identifier on a front face thereof, with the front face of each of the plurality of tissue cassettes facing the carriage, and wherein capturing successive images comprise more than one image of each of the plurality of tissue cassettes in the container captured while the one of the carriage and the base move with respect to the other such that each of the more than one image of the identifier on each of the plurality of cassettes is captured in a distinct field of view of the mobile phone that is less than an area of the container;
reading each of the successively captured more than one image of the identifier on each of the plurality of tissue cassettes;
discarding or ignoring any identifier that has been read by a previously captured image; and
stitching the successive images into an overall image.
19 . The machine-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein capturing successive images comprises capturing a first image of a first area before capturing a second image of a second area and a portion of the second area overlaps a portion of the first area.
20 . The machine-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the mobile phone comprises digital processing comprising one or more color filters to reproduce a captured image and prior to reading of the identifier of at least one of the plurality of cassettes, method comprises removing the one or more color filters.
21 . The machine-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the executed non-transitory instructions comprise a method further comprising:
transmitting the stitched image to an exterior system.
22 . The method of claim 14 , wherein successively capturing more than one image comprises capturing a first image of an identifier with a first focus position on the container and a second image of the identifier with a second focus position on the container, wherein a direction of a change from the first focus position to the second focus position is different than the direction of movement of the one of the carriage and the base.
23 . The machine-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein capturing successive more than one image comprises capturing a first image of an identifier with a first focus position on the container and a second image of the identifier with a second focus position on the container, wherein a direction of a change from the first focus position to the second focus position is different than the direction of movement of the one of the carriage and the base.