Tissue Microarrays
While not created specifically for virtual microscopy, tissue microarray technology is best suited for it.
3DHISTECH’s TMA product portfolio provides you with all the means you need for effective work with tissue microarrays.
With TMA technology a couple hundred cores (ie. a couple hundred cases) can be fitted in a single paraffin block and therefore on a glass slide. The whole concept of TMA represents a great (sometimes even impossible) challenge to the traditional pathology workflow.
First, creating a TMA paraffin block manually is impossible when trying to reach high density. The process itself is simple but if you want to have a lot of cores in your paraffin block then the required precision cannot be reached by the human hand.
Second, tissue microarrays require a lot of administration. Above a certain density of a TMA block it is most challenging to manage the diagnostic process with a traditional analogue microscope. You have to keep a record of the track (missing one spot can easily ruin your work) and constantly record your evaluation scorings for the cores.
Of course you can diminish the number of cores in a paraffin block but since one of the main benefits of TMA technology is being highly economic and standardized this is not the right direction.
Furthermore, scoring a large number of TMA spots can be repetitive and you cannot check your previous scores easily with the analogue microscope. Evaluating hundreds of spots takes time and since pathologists are human after all, their opinion can differ (albeit slightly) in time. It would be great if you could compare your scores over time to check consistency.
3DHISTECH Ltd has developed a complete TMA package for you consisting of hardware and software elements to effectively help you with tissue microarrays.
Our solution offers:
