PNEUMATIC SAMPLE FEEDWAY

摘要

A pneumatic sample feedway that is embeddable into a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device. The feedway includes: a plurality of capsules enclosing a biological tissue sample; and a conductor pipe connected to a source of a compressed fluid. The pipe receives a train of the capsules and pneumatically forwards the train into the MRI device. The pipe has a proximal terminal that loads the train of capsules into the pipe.

主权项

1. A pneumatic sample feedway comprising:
a conductor pipe connectable to a source of a compressed fluid that propels capsules inside and along a length of the conductor pipe, the conductor pipe having
a proximal end configured to receive a train of capsules into said pipe, anda distal end that is insertable into a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device and that includes a capsule receptacle that is adapted and configured to receive the capsules of said train one at a time; and a catch lock device that is
(i) operable to lock, upon closing, said train when one of the capsules of said train is received in said capsule receptacle, and(ii) operable to unlock, upon opening, so that a next one of the capsules of said train is delivered to and received by said capsule receptacle, wherein, said conductor pipe is configured to locate said capsule receptacle at a measurement location in a magnetic field of said MRI device, when said distal end is inserted into said MRI device.