[Histonet] Re: histology ink washing off

[Robert Richmond]

Mark Ray certainly raises some interesting points about the interplay
of power in a pathology service. If as a pathologist I ask Purchasing
to get me an item, they'll delight in ignoring me. Rather than deal
with that, I'll go to a craft store or a Wal-Mart or whatever -
probably combining it with another visit to the store - and save the
confrontation.

I think I saw some of Kurosawa's films half a century ago, but these
days I never go to films, only to movies.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN
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On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 8:30 AM, Mark Ray <darkdaym <@t> comcast.net> wrote:
> I don't disagree with you, Bob, but a lot of people don't have the good
> fortune or fortitude to get around as much as you must have to.   I remember
> when I worked in the lab, it always seemed an imposition to have to go
> shopping  for something needed for work.  You might work overtime, week
> after week, and the the weekend would be the supermarket, some other chores
> and housekeeping.  Craft and art supplies, they don't have that at the 7/11.
>  It was always easier to put it on a PO, when possible, and have it
> delivered direct.   While you're going from employer to employer, righting
> wrongs, rescuing distressed women and eviscerating the bad guys, it's
> probably not very inconvenient to run some errands on the way.  Not quite
> the same as it is for us rice paddy peasants, we got enough trouble fending
> off the bandits and politicians.  Anyway, have you seen Kurosawa's "Red
> Beard?"   Mifune plays a doctor in a 19th Century clinic.  Not samurai
> action, but at one point he has a great ju jitsu scene.
>
> Robert Richmond wrote:
>>
>> Hi Mark Ray!
>>
>> For a four dollar item that needs replacing less than once a year, I'd
>> rather just pay for it out of my own pocket than go to the trouble of
>> begging to borrow a catalog and begging purchasing to order the item
>> and waiting a week or two for it. That's what I do for small tools
>> like strainers, hacksaws, pliers and what have you also.
>>
>> Bob Richmond
>>
>> On Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 2:44 PM, Mark Ray <darkdaym <@t> comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Most institutions have a discount contract with  a large office supply
>>> company.  Borrow a catalog from the office staff.  That's usually the
>>> cheapest deal on india ink and you don't have to go to an outside vendor
>>> that your purchasing department never heard of.
>>>
>>> Robert Richmond wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Inks - both ordinary india ink and colored inks - used for marking
>>>> histology specimens will usually stay on quite satisfactorily if you
>>>> make sure to blot the specimen dry before inking. I never anything to
>>>> fix the ink to the specimen. 2% to 5% acetic acid is simple to use if
>>>> you or your pathologist want it. Don't use acetone (flammable) or
>>>> Bouin's fixative (toxic and messy).
>>>>
>>>> Ink doesn't adhere well to cauterized tissue surfaces. It adheres
>>>> reasonably well to cauterized breast tissue, not at all to the
>>>> cauterized surfaces of LEEP specimens of the cervix (where the
>>>> cauterized surfaces themselves are an adequate guide to the margins
>>>> for the microscopist).
>>>>
>>>> Ordinary india ink - most of what the pathologist uses - is easily
>>>> bought at artist's or craft supply stores, much cheaper and in  more
>>>> convenient containers than you get from medical supply houses. When
>>>> multiple colors are needed, some people use tattoo inks (cheap, and
>>>> available in numerous colors), but most use inks made specially for
>>>> this purpose. I prefer the Davidson marking inks (now available from
>>>> ordinary lab vendors like whatever Thermo and Cardinal are called this
>>>> week. I have no commercial connection to this product.)
>>>>
>>>> Inks dry out and go bad if the containers aren't promptly capped after
>>>> use. Pathologists tend to forget this, and the histotech who assists
>>>> the pathologist should make sure that the caps are replaced.
>>>>
>>>> The little dye capsules are an abomination - they squirt and flood the
>>>> specimen and your clothes with unwanted dye.
>>>>
>>>> Bob Richmond
>>>> Samurai Pathologist
>>>> Knoxville TN