Abstract: A high-throughput method of analyzing multiple tissue samples for nucleic acid material is presented. The method includes providing FFPE blocks containing tissue samples, a heatmap of locations of interest for each sample-containing FFPE block, and a coring device with a hollow punch tip. The sample-containing FFPE block is punched with the hollow punch tip at a location determined by the heatmap in order to obtain a core sample which is subsequently ejected out of the hollow punch tip to a designated receptacle. The hollow punch tip is sterilized after ejecting the core sample. These steps are repeated as needed to obtain desired number and typed core samples from the sample-containing FFPE blocks. The individual core samples are then treated in the individual designated receptacles with an appropriate reagent to extract nucleic acid material which is subsequently isolated and analyzed.

Abstract: A system and method for detecting pathogenetic analytes including exciting a large target input area with radiation to produce scattered light to form an input beam, reformatting, with an optical slicer system, the input beam to produce an output beam, dispersing the output beam to produce an output area, capturing excitation data from the output area; and determining, with a processor, a presence of a particular analyte in the input area based on the excitation data. The input area can be greater than 100 micron squared and less than one million microns squared. The optical slicer system can be a high throughput virtual slit system. SERS analysis detects analytes of interest with both high resolution and sensitivity simultaneously, and is applicable for detection of the presence of viruses.

Abstract: A system and method for use in a standardized laboratory for a specimen including a staining specific for a marker in the specimen. The method includes scanning an image, having an image magnification, of the specimen; and detecting morphologic, histopathologic and pathologic (MHP) features in the image, where the app includes a neural network (NN) trained by (a) importing into the NN, control images and associated annotations, where each of the associated annotations identifies one of the MHP features, (b) analyzing a test image with the NN to generate testing annotations for portions of the test image, (c) assessing whether the testing annotations are satisfactory, (d) enhancing the NN when the testing annotations made by the NN are unsatisfactory by repeating the importing, the analyzing and the assessing, and (e) creating the app including the NN when the testing annotations made by the NN are satisfactory.

Abstract: A system and method for detecting pathogenetic analytes including exciting a large target input area with radiation to produce scattered light to form an input beam, reformatting, with an optical slicer system, the input beam to produce an output beam, dispersing the output beam to produce an output area, capturing excitation data from the output area; and determining, with a processor, a presence of a particular analyte in the input area based on the excitation data. The input area can be greater than 100 micron squared and less than one million microns squared. The optical slicer system can be a high throughput virtual slit system. SERS analysis detects analytes of interest with both high resolution and sensitivity simultaneously, and is applicable for detection of the presence of viruses.