[Histonet] IHC Equipment

[Sheila Fonner]

Cindy,

We used to use the Dako stainer, and we still have it as a back-up if
necessary, but we have recently (in the last year) bought a Ventana Ultra.
You can put 30 slides at a time on it, but you do not have to batch the
slides.  It is a continuous feed machine, which means that as soon as a
slide is done, you can take it off and run something else.  You do not have
to have all of the slides from a case together side by side.  It is bar-code
driven and will find the slides no matter where you put them.  Each slide
drawer runs independently of the others.  Ours has been wonderful.  The
technical assistance is fantastic also.  They will help you to initially
work up all of your antibodies.  You can use theirs, or you can use third
party antibodies and place them in a prep-kit.  You can also use RTU or
concentrates.  It's really up to you.  I would highly recommend it if you
have a large volume.  We demo'd the Biocare Intellipath also.  I liked the
machine, but it was really just a step up from the Dako.  Leica has the Bond
instruments, which a lot of people like, but for us, it didn't work because
we wanted to be able to do ISH.  Also, the Leica limits you to drawers of
ten slides.  So when you load a drawer, with 1 slide or 10, you can't use it
again until that run is finished.  Hope this helps.  If you have any
questions, you can contact me.
Have a great day!

Sheila


-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Cynthia Pyse
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 2:37 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] IHC Equipment

Hi Histonetters

I currently use a Dako stainer for my IHC staining. It is a work horse with
very little problems. It is a older model that we may need to replace in the
near future. What is everyone using out in histoland. I would be perfectly
willing to purchase another Dako but I want to explore all avenues before
making a decision. What are the pros and cons of the instruments any of you
are using. How often is the machine down? What is the capacity? We run the
Dako twice daily usually to the capacity of 48 slides. I would like to hear
only from actual user of the instrumentation, no vendors please. This is
only a fact finding e-mail. Thanks in advance for all your input.

Cindy

 

Cindy Pyse, CLT, HT (ASCP)

Laboratory/Histology Supervisor

X-Cell Laboratories

716-250-9235

e-mail cpyse <@t> x-celllab.com

 

 

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