[Histonet] New cryostat validation procedure

[Greg Dobbin]

Hello experts!
I would like to find out what others have done to validate a new cryostat.
I believe it would basically be the same as validating a new microtome
except specimens (ie blocks) are plentiful for microtomy whereas for us,
fresh tissue for cryosectioning is not readily available.

Background:
We are an acute care hospital and we only get about 50 intraoperative
consult requests per year. Our older unit is still functional so I can do
side-by-side comparisons with the new unit. Our frozens are only stained
for H&E and a very rare (one every couple of years) Oil Red O.

So I have two questions:

   1. Can I use formalin-fixed tissue soaked overnight in a saturated
   sucrose solution for the validation? This seems reasonable since I can do
   side-by-side with the older unit. {autopsy tissue could be an option if the
   timing coincided with our validation but Murphy's Law will probably prevent
   this option! lol}

   2. How many tissues would be satisfactory? Is one specimen of each of
   our typical frozen specimen types enough? We typically get: ovary, thyroid,
   skin and lymph node. Any other tissue type would be rare.

I look forward to hearing from you!
Thank you,
Greg

-- 
*Greg Dobbin*
1205 Pleasant Grove Rd
RR#2 York,
PE      C0A 1P0


*Everything in moderation...even moderation itself**!*