The Phantom Rapid Tissue Processor

The Phantom Rapid Tissue Processor is a fully automated tissue processing unit that allows you to pre-set the steps to be performed. It then automatically delivers the processing solution and infiltration agent to the proper reagent stations in a processing chamber at the right time.

The four general steps of the tissue processing cycle are fixation, dehydration, clearing, and infiltration. These steps can be performed simultaneously using a single solution.

Tissue Transfer

When tissue samples are transferred from one container to another, a series of processing steps must occur to achieve optimal results. These steps include fixation, dehydration, clearing, and infiltration. When tissue samples are processed correctly, they provide a uniform basis for histopathological analysis and diagnosis.

The Phantom Rapid Tissue Processor utilizes ohmic heating to achieve these ideal processing conditions. This method of tissue processing allows the use of chemicals that are safer for tissue specimens, easier to handle, and more environmentally friendly than the traditional solvents used in conventional tissue processing.

1. First, the tissue sample is placed into a processing container that contains the desired reagents and is then heated using alternating cycles of microwave energy and ohmic energy. Microwave energy is known to be a good heat source for tissue samples, and ohmic energy is able to bring the reagents to a desired temperature while also maintaining the desired temperature for the required duration of time.

2. Second, the ohmic heating provides molecular oscillation for chemical exchange between the tissue specimen and the processing solution to maximize complete chemical reactions. Additionally, ohmic heating inhibits protein migration in the tissue specimen and prevents degradation of the conductive agent electrodes.

3. Third, ohmic heating also promotes fluid interchange between the processing reagents and the tissue specimen. This is important because the tissues must be exposed to a sufficient amount of processing fluids in order to maintain their maximum possible surface area.

4. Fourth, ohmic heating also reduces the possibility of the tissue specimen shrinking while in the process of infiltration and clearance. This occurs because xylene, the most common clearing agent, is toxic to tissue specimens.

5. Fifth, ohmic heating can be used in combination with other methods to achieve optimal processing results. For example, ohmic heating can be used with an additional infiltration medium, a clearing agent, and a surfactant to improve the quality of the final tissue specimens.

To achieve optimal processing, the ohmic heating system uses a temperature probe to monitor the temperature of the reagents and the tissue specimen. The temperature probe is adapted to communicate with both the ohmic energy source and the microwave energy source to turn on and off in response to whether the target temperature has been achieved or not.

Dehydration

Dehydration is when your body loses more water than it takes in. It can happen for many reasons, including hot weather or exercise, illness, and certain medications. It can be mild or severe.

Your body normally loses water through sweating, breathing, peeing and pooping, and through tears and saliva (spit). It replaces these losses with drinking fluids or eating foods that contain water.

It's a normal part of living, but when it happens too often or for too long, it can cause problems. Mild or moderate dehydration is treatable at home. Severe dehydration, however, can be life-threatening and needs to be treated in a hospital or emergency care setting.

The most common signs of dehydration are thirst and dry mouth, but there are other telltale signs as well. For example, if your urine is dark or yellow in color or if you are vomiting, it's time to drink!

You'll also need to drink enough to maintain a steady body temperature. This will help you feel better and prevent hyperthermia, which can lead to chills and fever.

A fever and chills may be a warning sign that your body is struggling to keep up with its normal temperature. If this happens during physical activity or while playing sports, stop immediately.

Skin dehydration

Another sign of dehydration is your skin becoming less elastic. If you pinch the skin on the top of your hand, and it sticks together, that's a sign that you are severely dehydrated.

If you have low blood pressure and a racing heart rate, these can also be signs of dehydration. They can also mean that you're losing too much fluid through vomiting and diarrhea, or sweating.

People who are elderly, pregnant or have a chronic health condition that leads to frequent vomiting and diarrhoea are at higher risk of dehydration. They may not realize they're becoming dehydrated, and they may not drink enough to replace the fluids they're losing.

Increasing your fluid intake is the first and best way to treat dehydration. For more serious cases, you can also ask your pharmacist about oral rehydration solutions -- powders that you mix with water to increase your fluids and sodium and potassium levels.

Clearing

Clearing is an essential step in histology, allowing the internal characteristics of a tissue specimen to be seen. It involves extracting a dehydrating agent from the tissue to reduce the opacity and to enhance the visualization of cellular structures and morphology. Examples of clearing agents include xylene, limonene, benzene, toluene, chloroform, petroleum ether, carbon bisulfide, and carbon tetrachloride.

Another important step during clearing is removing fat (lipids) from the sample. If left in place, the fatty molecules would interfere with both the dehydrating and clearing steps, causing spreading artifacts of tissue sections, wrinkling of tissue sections, poor staining, and other problems. The process of removing fat (defatting) can be done manually or using an automated clearing system that removes lipids from the specimen using a reagent that is designed for this task.

The simplest way to perform this step is with a Phantom Rapid Tissue Processor that uses liquid processing reagents that simultaneously perform the dehydration and clearing of tissues, saving time while reducing reagent volume on the processor. This allows for even large samples to be processed on a phantom processor in under 2.5 hours, significantly shortening turnaround times.

In addition to this, the liquid reagent is easy to use. It is safe to use, requires no dilution or concentration, and has an ingenious error-free design. These features make the Xpress Series Reagents ideal for use on a Phantom Rapid Tissue Processor.

The Phantom Rapid Tissue Processor has a fully automated system that automatically pumps the liquid reagents into and out of the sample using pumps 24 and 32. This allows the user to walk away while the tissue is being processed, without having to worry about putting in the wrong reagent, mispositioning the reagent bottles, or creating an error in the dilution or concentration. This ensures that your laboratory runs with the highest level of safety, and is ready to answer critical patient questions in as little as a few minutes.

Infiltration

Tissue processing using conventional methods has traditionally relied on hazardous chemicals that are known carcinogens to effectuate the chemical reactions that occur during processing. This approach is not only harmful to the tissue sample but also causes damage to the tissue processor. The use of a Phantom Rapid Tissue Processor eliminates these risks and ensures the safety of both the processor and the samples it processes.

During tissue processing, there are many steps that must be performed to produce the best quality tissues possible. These steps include fixation, dehydration, clearing, and infiltration. Infiltration is the final step in tissue processing and is essential to producing a high-quality section that contains the best morphological detail.

Infiltration is carried out by a variety of techniques including heat-based infiltration and vacuum infiltration. Both methods require the removal of water from the tissues that are present in both free and bound forms. During processing, it is also inevitable that the tissues will shrink.

Modern tissue processors

Modern tissue processors are equipped with a built-in system that can deliver vacuum and pressure to help complete each processing step. This can greatly reduce the amount of time that it takes to infiltrate dense and fatty tissue samples.

Another major benefit of the process is that it can be customized to match the needs of specific tissue samples. This method is particularly useful in cases where tissue is undergoing a series of chemical reactions that would be difficult to accomplish by hand. In addition, the use of a Phantom Rapid Tissue Processor allows the reuse of reagent bottles and reduces the overall cost of tissue processing.

The first step in processing a tissue sample is fixation, which stabilizes the proteins in the sample and renders them resistant to further autolysis. It also changes the tissue’s receptiveness to subsequent chemical reactions.

During fixation, the tissue sample is placed into a rack that is mounted on the processing unit. A conductive lead is then attached to the rack to allow it to be connected to the processor’s electrical power source.

A reagent pump is then used to introduce the reagents into the processing container and remove them after completion of the cycle. The reagents are then stored in reagent bottles that are located in or near the processing container. These reagents are then reused for future tissue samples.