METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING BIOLOGICAL SPECIMEN SLIDES USING UNIQUE SLIDE FINGERPRINTS

Method and system for processing specimen slides. A first image of a unique feature, such as a fiducial mark, of a specimen slide is acquired, and a second image of the same region of a fiducial mark is acquired at a later time. The first and second fiducial mark images are compared in order to determine whether they are images of the same fiducial mark of the same specimen slide, thereby allowing the system to detect when one specimen slide has been swapped with another specimen slide. The comparison may also involve images of multiple features on the specimen carrier, e.g., sets of multiple fiducial marks.