| abstract |
A method of direct extraction of cellular material from a tissue sample which involves: forming an image field of cells of the tissue sample utilizing a microscope, identifying at least one zone of cells of interest from the image field of cells which at least one zone of cells of interest includes different types of cells than adjacent zones of cells, and extracting the at least one zone of cells of interest from the tissue sample. The extracted zone(s) of cells is subjected to analysis. The overall process of identifying, extracting, transporting, and analyzing the extracted zones(s) of cells can be fully automated. |