[Histonet] H&E Stainer Question

[Roy, Lisa]

Paula
Here are my two cents....

I currently use a Leica Autostainer XL with attached glass coverslipper.  It is consistent in its staining and easy to use.  The downfall is if you are a large volume lab or just have large volume days, each staining rack holds 30 slides and only one rack can be stained in each batch. The stainer also only has one on board oven, so the throughput of this machine is fairly low.  It is only staining 30 slides at a time, with one holding station for the next set.  It will run multiple batches concurrently, but gets to a point where it is all backed up.  We sometimes have 2 racks staining, one in the oven, one in the loading dock, and some sitting on top of the stainer until it can go on. 

On the flip side, the Sakura Prisma is a workhorse.  It is very similar to the Leica in the sense that it is linear and very consistent in staining.  It has two on board ovens and each basket can hold 20 slides.  The difference is that the Sakura can stain 3 racks (60 slides) per batch, with two batches in the oven at the same time.  That gives you 120 slide throughput for each batch.  This stainer also has an attached coverslipper (Sakura Film), but it is film coverslips.  I know, I know.....no one likes the film coverslips.  One advantage to the film, is that the slides are dry almost immediately and can be filed away the same day.  No waiting for 3-4 days for the glass ones to fully cure.  I can say that the last lab I worked in had the film coverslips and after 10 years, the slides were still in pristine condition.  There are many pathologists that do not like to read film covered slides, but once ours got used to it, they had no problems.  Some say the film yellows or comes off with the tissue still attached.  I can say that I never seen this in my past position.  It is very dependent on Xylene only during coverslipping.  You cannot use a xylene substitute in the coverslip portion and expect to get good results.    

Hope it helps....good luck.
Lisa

-----Original Message-----
From: Paula Sicurello [mailto:patpxs at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2015 5:04 PM
To: HistoNet
Subject: [Histonet] H&E Stainer Question

Me again...

UCSD is in the market for a new H&E stainer for our new hospital opening next year.

We need a workhorse, not a prima dona, something with a coverslipper built in would be nice.

What do you use?

Suggestions gratefully accepted-even from you two Keith and Matt  ;)

Opinions about the good, the bad, and the ugly (as long as it works really
well) will be helpful.

Thanks oodles!

Paula  :-)
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