[Histonet] H&E Stainer Question

[Simmons, Christopher]

To be fair, a "batch" of slides for Leica is actually 270- slides, It can run 9 racks at a time, but, the 9th rack from start to coverslip is 3 hours+
You can always skip the on-board oven and place your slides in a slide dryer (most labs have them) and then every 3 minutes you can load a rack (1st xylene step 3 minutes) 
Then it goes much faster.
As for tape..ugh..it is only guaranteed to last 7 years, after that they pull off the slide and take the tissue with it.
CAP is starting to frown on this as you need to keep the initial H&E slides for up to 10+ years.

Chris Simmons B.S., A.S., HTL(ASCP)
Supervisor, UPP Dermatopathology
412.864.3880 office
412.612.0881 cell


-----Original Message-----
From: Roy, Lisa [mailto:Royl1 at LabCorp.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2015 8:19 AM
To: Paula Sicurello; HistoNet
Subject: Re: [Histonet] H&E Stainer Question

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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