The Dako CoverStainer. t Vivantes. n Germany

Transcription

1 The Dako CoverStainer t Vivantes n Germany

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3 BY SOFIE KJÆRSGAARD HANSEN Better quality more consistency and increased speed The Dako CoverStainer entered the pathology laboratory of Vivantes in Berlin in May I am sitting across from one of the most infl uential pathologists in Central Europe, Prof. Dr. Hermann Herbst, eager to hear his impression of Dako s new H&E stainer.

4 The Dako CoverStainer at Vivantes Klinikum Neukölln in Berlin, Germany, has processed approximately 40,000 slides. Staff members at the lab are already taking a clear standpoint when it comes to evaluations of the instrument. We have been testing the Dako CoverStainer for some months now and find it very interesting. It s not just a nice design, the professor says. The idea behind it is thoroughly thought through. It s definitely groundbreaking in H&E. He continues, In comparison to our previous system, we find that the consistency is much better, and we really appreciate the speed. Gaining Valuable Time Together with a Dako team, professor Herbst and his team have compared their previous H&E process with the new one. You want to have a standardized process. We did a test of around 3000 slides, and our measurements show that the Dako CoverStainer saves us about 43% of the time needed in the older procedure, which includes the use of a separate drying oven and a combined stainer and coverslipper in the H&E process. The new system takes out some of the previous steps, thanks to automation. It bakes, de-waxes, stains, dehydrates, clears, mounts and dries the slide you simply load and unload. That reduces the hands-on time and thereby labor time. In the pretreatment process, I also see improvements. Our old process requires a lot of attention on the part of the technicians, and this leads to a lot of variation in the results. At the end, some stains would bake for ten minutes and some for longer periods of time. These were crucial points for Professor Herbst, when purchasing the Dako CoverStainer. Consistency Makes it Easier At Vivantes they process around 110,000 H&E slides a year. Consistent results are of great importance. Two years ago professor Herbst decided to purchase an H&E stainer from a different vendor, but he was never satisfi ed with its performance. This spring the team at Vivantes purchased Dako s new H&E stainer. I ask him why? If you have a large volume of staining, then you need consistent results. There was a very big variation in the results from our old stainer. In the course of a day the quality of stains would change; they would look one way in the morning and a different way in the afternoon. I have never been completely satisfi ed with that. When evaluating a slide, the same consistent quality is crucial so that you don t overlook anything. Now with the Dako CoverStainer, slides have a consistent quality, which makes it a lot easier. A Hard Transition Right now we are using both instruments in parallel. The technicians know all the ins and outs, and they are a little

5 Case Study at Vivantes: Reduction of manual work travel distance reduced by 43% with the Dako CoverStainer setup. uneasy with the new system and new routines. Change takes time. Some of the technicians like the new system and use it, but some are hesitant because it contains an integrated computer. For us, it normally takes some time to implement any new instrument, Herbst explains. Top 3 Features Asked to name the top three features and improvements, the professor mentions: Consistency in staining, greater speed, and less propensity for error. In the future, I hope for integration with the rest of the lab for a consistent workfl ow. For now, I m pleased with the Dako CoverStainer and I m looking forward to having all of our H&E stains done on the instrument. Would you recommend the H&E stainer to a colleague? Yes, I would.

6 Ms. Teitge, technician at Vivantes. BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN a i

7 BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN

8 Dako Denmark A/S Produktionsvej 42, DK-2600 Glostrup, Reporter: Sofi e Kjærsgaard Hansen, Corporate Communications Graphic design & production: Quote Grafi k Photo: Das Büro Proofreading: Lingtech A/S Printer: Litotryk København BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN Prof. Dr. Herbst and technician, Hanin ElSayed.