Pathology Museum Techniques

1
Learning Outcome
❑Explain the methods used in handling museum
specimens

❑ Describe the techniques of specimen preservation

❑Discuss issues related to the management of the

pathology museum.
❑ Museum is a building in
which objects of historical,
scientific, artistic, or cultural
interest are stored and
exhibited.
❑ The pathology museum
features an extensive
collection of diseased
specimens (organs and
tissue) complete with
histories from all regions of
the human body.
 Introduction
❑The primary function is to enable medical education at both
undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
▪ It provides students with the basic material for their studies
▪ permanent exhibition of common specimens for
undergraduate and postgraduate teaching purposes

❑Illustrating specimens of rarity.

❑Permanent source of histologic material and for gross and
microscopic photography
Basic Museum Techniques
▪Reception
▪Preparation
▪Fixation
▪Colour restoration
▪Preservation
▪Mounting
▪Special methods
▪Presentation and Cataloguing
Reception
❑Most of the materials are collected from:
▪ Hospitals (Teaching), surgically resected specimens
from theatre
▪ Necropsy specimen from PM
▪ Research laboratories
❑Full details of the patient and lesion

❑ID Number (e.g. 32/2022).

Preparation of Specimen
❑Involves prepping the tissue or organ for fixation
▪ Specimen should be washed only with saline and must
be kept in saline (not more than 2 hours)

▪ Contact with tap water must be avoided because the

resultant hemolysis greatly reduces their value.

▪ Drying can ruin the surface appearance of the tissue

Fixation of Specimen
❑The aim of fixation is to preserve cells and tissues
constituent in as close to a life-like state as possible.

❑The fixatives used in museums the world over are based

on formalin fixative techniques
▪ Kaiserling technique and modifications
❑Kaiserling's fixative:

▪ preserving histologic and pathologic

specimens without changing the
natural color.

▪ an aqueous solution containing

formalin, potassium nitrate,
potassium acetate
Johann Carl Kaiserling
(1869 - 1942)
Factors affecting fixation
❑Volume

❑Buffering

❑Temperature

❑Concentration

❑Rate of penetration
Colour Restoration
❑It is required to restore the colour of specimens, as they
lose their natural color on fixation.

▪ Kaiserling II method
▪ Pulvertaft (1936)
▪ Schultz (1931)
Preservation
▪The recommended solution for this step is
Kaiserling III.

▪This is the final solution in which the specimen

will remain for display.
Mounting
▪ Specimens are mounted in rectangular glass jars.

▪ They were better than cylindrical ones as the flat

surfaces afforded a clear view of specimens without any
distortion

▪ Perspex jars are also available, which are lighter than

glass jars.
Routine Mounting Procedure
▪ Museum jars or boxes
▪ Centre plates
▪ Stitching specimen to the centre plate
▪ Fixing the centre plate
▪ Filling and sealing
▪ Gelatin Embedding
▪ Embedding in Solid plastic Blocks
Special Methods
❑Bones

❑Calculi

❑Amyloid
▪ Iodine Technique
▪ Congo Red Technique

❑Haemosiderin
Special Methods - Bones

❑Maceration
▪ used to demonstrate bony lesions such as osteogenic
sarcomas, osteomas, and tuberculosis
▪ This method enables the preservation of even the finest
bony spicule

❑Degreasing and Bleaching

Presentation and Cataloging
❑An essential feature in connection with a museum, is
the maintenance of a careful record or history of
the objects forming the various collections.

❑ A specimen deficient in data referring to the locality,

date, and conditions under which it was obtained,
is practically valueless in comparison with one
correctly cataloged.

❑ Museum specimens should be clearly labeled.

Presentation and Cataloguing
❑A system of cataloguing ('registering' or
'recording) allows easy and rapid access.

▪ Accession Catalogue (arranged numerically)

▪ Department Catalogue (arranged numerically)
▪ Reference Catalogue (arranged alphabetically)