comparison of a new tissue processor to its predecessor
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Comparing the un-validated Thermo Fisher Revos (Excelsior RS TM) tissue processor to the Thermo Fisher Excelsior TM AS tissue processor for tissue quality.
IRAS ID
240179
Contact name
Eveline Booth
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 1 months, 24 days
Research summary
The aim of the study is to test a new tissue processor against its predecessor by comparing processing ability and staining quality. Tissue processing is one of the fundamental steps in histology and all routine samples will undergo processing. Tissue processing enables tissues to be stabilised so that they can be sectioned and subsequently stained. The new processor will reduce processing time significantly. Two processors will be used: the Excelsior TM AS tissue processor, and the un-validated Revos (Excelsior RS TM) tissue processor, both produced by Thermo Fisher Scientific. The Excelsior TM AS tissue processor has been in service for 2 years in general practice in the Cellular Pathology Department at Wycombe Hospital in the Buckinghamshire NHS Trust. It produces good quality processing and has performed well in external quality assessment schemes. For this reason, the AS processor will be used to compare the quality of the Revos tissue processor. Tissue samples from a variety of organs will be used. These will be sourced from the ‘thrown out’ tissue of surgical samples. In essence, these ‘thrown out’ surgical samples are no longer required for a diagnostic purpose and the stained tissue will not affect a patient’s result. The surplus diagnostic tissue will consist of a range of fatty, fibrous, gastrointestinal, and standard tissues. These tissues will then be cut to the appropriate size for the protocol needed. The surplus diagnostic tissue will only be used to assess the performance of the Revos Tissue processor. Scoring will be performed by up to 3 biomedical scientists and up to 2 consultant histopathologists. This will be a blind comparative study and the graders will not know which sections belong to which processor.
REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SW/0170
Date of REC Opinion
24 Aug 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion