[Histonet] RE: Microwave Tissue Processors

Thu Oct 30 14:30:08 CST 2003

We have the RHS-1 also.  What we normally do for our decals is to let them
sit in EDTA for about a week sometimes longer depending on the amount of
things that we have to cut/process, etc.  Then we run it on the decal cycle
in fresh EDTA at 37C for about 5 hours then process them the next day.  We
have been getting beautiful results. 
Do you do your entire processing schedule under vacuum?  Or just the
paraffin? 

Loralee

> ----------
> From: 	Mary Reeves
> Sent: 	Thursday, October 30, 2003 11:13 AM
> To: 	doscwk <@t> nus.edu.sg; Loralee_Gehan <@t> urmc.rochester.edu
> Cc: 	histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu; Katherine Raker
> Subject: 	RE: [Histonet] RE: Microwave Tissue Processors
> 
> Loralee,
> Which Hacker microwave do you have?  We use the RHS-1 to process our
> decals.  We are processing with vacuum, this allows us to process at lower
> temperatures and still have decreased processing times.  We plan to start
> decalcification in the microwave soon.  Any suggestions? 
> 
> Mary Reeves
> Technical Specialist
> Histology
> 1-352-265-0680 ext 7-2113
> 
> >>> "Gehan, Loralee" <Loralee_Gehan <@t> URMC.Rochester.edu> 10/30/03 08:08AM
> >>>
> I work in an orthopaedics research lab as well and process many many many
> mouse hind limbs, calvaria, etc.  We use a microwave processor from Hacker
> (milestone medical).  It has decreased our time to process.  We had some
> trouble at the start with some of our enzyme histochemistry.  
> The trick to the machine is the heat.  It was heating the samples up so
> much
> that one of our stains wasn't working.  After much testing we figured out
> that all you have to do is decrease the temperature of the processing and
> increase the time.  It was basically trial and error because the company
> markets these for rapid processing for surgical biopsies.  
> We decal on the machine and we also do antigen retrieval and found that
> most
> of our antibodies worked well with it.   We are still testing out the
> capabilities of the machine.  But it has helped this lab become more
> efficient. 
> 	Hope that helps. 
> 
> 	Loralee Gehan
> 	Orthopaedics Research Lab
> 	University of Rochester
> > ----------
> > From: 	Chan Wai Kam
> > Sent: 	Wednesday, October 29, 2003 10:02 PM
> > To: 	Mary Reeves
> > Cc: 	HistoNet Server
> > Subject: 	RE: [Histonet] RE: Microwave Tissue Processors
> > 
> > Hi Mary,
> > 
> > I was about to post a question to Histonet about the use of microwave
> > for processing of tissues when I came across your message below. I hope
> > to get some advice.
> > 
> > I'm from Orthopaedics (research) and I process bone and cartilage
> > specimens the usual way through fixation in formalin, then
> > decalcification and so on.  I'm just wondering whether I can use the
> > microwave to speed up the processing without affecting the quality of
> > the specimens. Our usual processing for bone takes around 3 weeks until
> > embedding so it would be great if we could have something that can speed
> > up the process without sacrifing quality.  
> > 
> > Would appreciate any advice out there.
> > 
> > Thanks
> > Julee Chan
> > Orthopaedic Surgery
> > National University of Singapore
> > 
> >    
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Mary Reeves [mailto:REEVEML <@t> shands.ufl.edu] 
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 11:38 PM
> > To: ASelf <@t> gmhsc.com 
> > Cc: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu; Katherine Raker
> > Subject: RE: [Histonet] RE: Microwave Tissue Processors
> > 
> > 
> > Amy,
> > Do you currently have a microwave tissue processor?  We use the
> > Hacker/Milestone RHS-1 Microwave to process our fatty tissue. The times
> > that you see only represent the time at temperature, they do not include
> > the "ramp" up time (the time needed to bring the solution to the
> > appropriate processing temperature).  
> > 
> > Fixation - We fix the tissue cassettes overnight (6pm - 3am) in
> > Alcoholic  Zinc Formalin Ethanol - 10 minutes at 65 C JFC - Produced by
> > Hacker. Isopropanol can be used instead, however, you may need to extend
> > the time at temperature. - 1 hour and 37 minutes at 68 C 
> > Vaporization (Vacuum Drying) -Pressure at 500 mbar
> > Paraffin - 48 minutes at 65 C and pressure at 100 mbar
> > 
> > This program takes approximately 4 hours to run, it replaces our 16 hour
> > overnight program that we previously used to process fatty tissue.  The
> > only fatty tissue we do not process in the microwave is lipoma. 
> > 
> > Mary Reeves
> > Technical Specialist
> > Histology
> > 1-352-265-0680 ext 7-2113
> > 
> > >>> Amy Self <ASelf <@t> gmhsc.com> 10/28/03 01:58PM >>>
> > 
> > 	Mary,
> > 
> > 	Could you share with me your procedure for processing fatty
> > tissue in the microwave.  
> > 
> > 	Thanks,
> > 	Amy Self
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Mary Reeves [mailto:REEVEML <@t> shands.ufl.edu] 
> > Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 1:38 PM
> > To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu; thallada <@t> noch.org 
> > Subject: RE: [Histonet] RE: Microwave Tissue Processors
> > 
> > 
> > We microwave process all of our biopsy specimens and our fatty tissue
> > (except lipoma).   
> > 
> > Mary Reeves
> > Technical Specialist
> > Histology
> > 1-352-265-0680 ext 7-2113
> > 
> > >>> "Hallada, Teri" <thallada <@t> noch.org> 10/28/03 11:42AM >>>
> > I was wondering if anyone out there is using a microwave tissue
> > processor for routine hospital tissues. Are there any regulations
> > applicable to instituting one, ie FDA approval? Teri Hallada BS MT CT
> > (ASCP) thallada <@t> noch.org 
> >  
> > 
> > 
> > 
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