Laboratory Equipment
RISK MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY IN
THE LABORATORY
Risk management pertains to the process of
ensuring and maintaining personal as well
as environmental health and safety in the
laboratory.
MedTech responsibility is :
➢To minimize risks associated with
day-to-day activity by using safety guards
and checking the quality of reagents.
➢To identify all electrical, mechanical and
biological hazards that can potentially cause
harm in the laboratory.
➢Inventory of chemical reagents must be
on hand and obsolete chemicals should be
routinely disposed of
Laboratory must have the following
documents:
➢Standard operating procedures (SOP’s)
➢Technical procedures
➢Incident report(file)
➢Material Safety Data sheets
➢Inserts(each reagent)
➢Certificate of product registration
➢Inventory logbook
➢General safety precautions (signages)
Hazards
➢A potential source of harm.
➢ Substances, events, or
circumstances can constitute
hazards when their nature would
allow them, even just
theoretically, to cause damage to
health, life, property, or any other
interest of value.
Hazard Symbols
TYPES OF HAZARDS
1.Chemical Hazards
➢Involve Cleaning agents and
disinfectants, drugs, anesthetic gases,
solvents, paints, and compressed gases.
Labeling
Every chemical should be labeled with
certain basic
information, including:
• Chemical name and, if a mixture, names of
all ingredients
• Manufacturer's name and address if
purchased commercially, or name of
person making the reagent
• Date purchased or made
• Expiration date, if known
• Hazard warnings and safety procedures
The different types of chemicals include:
➢Irritants are chemicals that cause
reversible inflammatory effects at the site of
contact with living tissue, especially the
skin, eyes and respiratory passages.
➢Corrosive chemicals cause destruction or
irreversible alterations when exposed to
living tissue, or destroy certain inanimate
surfaces (generally metal). A chemical may
be corrosive to tissue but not to steel, or
vice versa. Few are corrosive to both.
➢Sensitizers cause allergic reactions in
some exposed workers, not just in
hypersensitive individuals. Sensitization
may occur at work because of the high
exposure level.
➢Carcinogens are substances that induce NFPA Symbol:
tumors, not only in experimental animals but
also in humans. Examples of carcinogenic
chemicals include chloroform, chromic acid,
formaldehyde, nickel chloride and
potassium dichromate. Carcinogenic dyes
include auramine, basic fuchsin, and any
dye derived from benzidine (including
Congo red and diamino benzidine).
➢Toxic materials are capable of causing
death by ingestion, skin contact or
inhalation at certain specified
concentrations. These include methanol,
chromic acid, osmium tetroxide and uranyl
nitrate.

Storage of hazardous chemicals

➢Standard precautions (signages)
➢Inventory logbook/MSDS
➢Spill kits box
➢Hazardous chemicals must be stored
below eye level. Do not store chemicals on
the floor, window ledges, or balconies. Keep
containers closed unless you are
dispensing a chemical or adding to the
container.
2.Physical Hazards
➢Classified as type of occupational hazard
or environmental hazard.
➢include ergonomic hazards, radiation,
heat and cold stress, vibration hazards, and
noise hazards.
➢Physical hazards are slips and falls from
working in wet locations
➢Containers of sharp objects are found
everywhere in pathology laboratories, and
following a few safety rules can help prevent
accident reports such as getting stuck
with a needle or other sharp objects.
 Muscular-skeletal disorders
Symptoms of MSDs can
include:
➢recurrent pain
➢stiff joints
➢swelling
Ergonomics ➢dull aches
➢Ergonomic hazards of lifting, pushing, They can affect any major area of
pulling, and repetitive tasks. your musculoskeletal system,
➢Laboratory work activities can introduce including the following:
ergonomic risk factors that are ➢neck
associatedwith muscular-skeletal disorders. ➢shoulders
➢Awkward postures occur when body parts ➢wrists
are positioned away from their neutral ➢back
position. These postures can put stress on ➢hips
the joint and its associated muscles. ➢legs
➢ Contact stress is a sustained contact ➢knees
between a body part and an external ➢feet
object.
➢ Examples include: resting the wrist or
forearm against a sharp edge/corner.
Duration is the period of time that a body
part is exposed to an ergonomic risk factor.
Longer durations of exposure increase the
severity of the risk.

3.Electrical Hazards
➢Including electric shock, arc blasts,
electrocution, fires and explosions.
➢Very common electrical hazard is the
improper use of flexible extension cords.
➢Person being electrocuted, DO NOT
TOUCH THEM! The electricity can go
through you, too. If possible, turn off the
power (pull the plug or trip the circuit
breaker)

4.Biological Hazards
➢Include infectious agents(bacteria,
viruses, molds ,fungi, toxins and others
such as protozoa.)and their toxins as well
as contaminated solutions, specimens or
objects.
➢Biological materials are used in the area,
they should not be stored in hallways, in
unlocked freezers or in refrigerators.
Biohazard signs should be placed in
appropriate areas.

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 Basic Laboratory Equipment

Handling Spills
• Lab workers must be trained in handling
toxic materials and spill clean-up before
beginning work with toxic substances.

Microscope
(binocular)
➢Any optical microscope with two
eyepieces to significantly ease viewing and
cut down on eye strain.

➢Timer
➢Slide
➢Cover slip
➢Adhesive(micropore)
➢Forceps
➢Staining glass
Papanicolaou stain
➢Also known “Papanicolaou's stain and
Pap stain”
➢A universal stain used for gynecologic
and nongynecologic cytology smear.
➢Used for oral and cervical cancer
screening
➢ Identify the nuclear component of the cell
to assist in the detection of abnormalities in
the nuclear structure of cancerous cells.
➢ Differentiate and distinguish specific cell
types like basophils and acidophils.
Paraffin
oven
➢This is also known as the wax
oven designed to store paraffin in
its liquid state by maintaining a
temperature of 2-5 C higher than
the melting point of wax.
➢Melting point for routine work:
56-58 C/50-60 C
MICROTOME
A mechanical instrument used to cut
biological specimens into very thin
segments or sections for microscopic
examination.
It works by moving the tissue holder
towards the knife while the knife is held
rigidly in position.
Cutting action could be vertical or horizontal
depending on the type of microtome.
3 essential part of MICROTOME:
1.KNIFE CARRIER(knife
attachment)and knife-for actual
cutting of tissue section
MICROTOME KNIVES are
manufacture in 3 basic shapes:
a.BICONCAVE-used for paraffin
sections with rocking or rotary
type of microtome and on a carbon
dioxide freezing microtome
b. Plane concave-one side of thin
knife is flat on the other concave.
There are two degree of concavity
available.
➢The one with the lesser concavity is
used for celloidin sections.
➢The more concave side is used for
paraffin section on the sledge, rotary of
rocking microtome.
c. PLANE WEDGE-routinely used for
frozen section and extremely hard
specimens embedded in paraffin wax.
➢It is also used for paraffin blocks being 3.BASE(microtome body)
cut on the rotary microtome ➢May include ratchet feed wheel ,pawl and
adjustment screws

TYPES OF MICROTOMES
1.MANUAL MICROTOMES
a. Rocking Microtome
➢One of the oldest types of microtomes
and invented by Caldwell treefall in 1881.
➢It is the simplest of all microtomes, the
tissue block being mounted on the end
moves through an arc towards a knife that
is HELD IN A HORIZONTAL position and
with a blade facing up and slightly inclined
towards the tissue holder. Section are cut
in a curved planed

2.Block holder /chuck/tissue holder

➢Where the tissue is held in position

b. ROTARY (Minot)Microtome
➢Invented by Minot in 1995 and derives
its name from the rotary action of the
hand wheel which actuates the cutting
movements.
➢The block moves up and down in a
vertical plane in relation to the knife and
cuts flat sections.
➢This type of microtome is heavier that the
rocking microtome and is more stable
making it suitable for cutting large blocks
and producing serial sections.

d. SLIDING MICROTOME
➢This is designed for cutting
celloidin-embedded sections but
may be used for paraffin-wax
embedded sections.
➢The knife is moved horizontally
against a fixed block which
progress against it in an inclined
plane.

c. SLEDGE MICROTOME
➢This type of microtome is designed to
section very large block of tissue.
➢Block holder is mounted on a steel
carriage which slides backwards and
forwards on guides against a fixed
horizontal knife.
➢Knife used is very large(24cm in length)
and is usually wedge shaped. One
disadvantage of this as compared with e. FREEZING MICROTOME
rocking and rotary microtome is its slow ➢Invented by Queckett in 1848. This is
action. design for cutting frozen sections.
➢Its machine is clamped to the edge of a
bench and is connected to a cylinder of
CO2.
➢The action of this microtome is quite
different because the knife is moved while
the tissue block is stationary.
➢The block moves by a pre-set amount at
the end of each cut.
f. VIBRATING MICROTOME
➢This microtome is designed to cut
sections from fresh, unfixed material
from animal or botanical sources.
➢Its name is derived from the highspeed
vibration produced by a safety
razor blade which provided the cutting
power.
g.Ultrathin Microtome
(Ultra Microtome)
➢This is designed to cut ultra-thin
sections for light and electron
microscopy. It can cut sections as
thin as 10 Nanometers.
➢Knives are usually made from glass
, diamond or sapphire.
➢The block is brought to the knife
edge under microscopical control
and as each section is cut, it is
floated on to a water bath adjacent
to the knife edge.
h. SAW MICROTOME
➢This is designed to cut sections from very
hard materials such as undecalcified
bone, glass or ceramics.
➢Samples are usually embedded in resins
and are moved extremely slowly against a
diamond coated saw rotating at 600 rpm.
➢This type of microtome cannot produce
very thin sections.
 may range from 5 to 100 microns.

i. HAND MICROTOME
➢Used to cut thin sections of Microscopic
materials, such as specimen parts of plants
and animals.

b. COMPUTERIZED
MICROTOME
➢This is a dual purpose microtome which
can produce rapid freezing sections or
routine paraffin sections.
➢It is equipped with thermostatic switch,
semiconductor freezing, cryoscalpel and
cryoplate.
➢It can produce sections ranging from
1 to 245 microns in thickness.

2.AUTOMATIC MICROTOME
a. Laser Microtome
This is designed for non-contact
sectioning inside biological tissues
without causing thermal damage. It
is equipped with femtosecond laser
technology and can tissue sections

AUTOMATIC KNIFE SHARPENER
➢Provides a precise, efficient and safe
method for honing Microtome Knives up to
140mm in length, equipped with automatic
timer 0-60 min. to adjust sharpening
time.
➢ It ensure a knife edge so perfect that no
subsequent stropping(removes any residual
nicking or irregularities in order to make the
knife's edge as sharp as possible.) is
necessary.
CRYOSTAT
➢Consist of a microtome of any
type(preferably
rustproof),which is enclosed and operated
within a deep freeze cabinet.
➢Temperature is regulated between -10 to
-40 C.
➢An alternative to a freezing microtome for
rapid sectioning of tissue with thickness
range of 2 to 16um.
➢The first cryostat was designed by
Linderstrom
–Lang and Mogensen in 1938
AUTOMATIC TISSUE
PROCESSOR/”AUTOTECHNICON”
➢An instrument that performs fixation,
dehydration,clearing and paraffin
infiltration.
➢It has a total of 12 station to perform.
➢Most tissue processor have the
following component part: carrier,sample
basket,receptacle,melting pots and
timer
TISSUE EMBEDDING CENTER
➢This equipment is used only in
histopathology laboratory with moderate to
heavy loads.
➢This allows easy preparation of wax
tissue blocks.
Most embedding center machine contain
the following essential parts:
1.Freon Refrigeration System-Provide
instant cooling of the exchange
plate.
2.Paraffin Melting Chamber-Forms a
penthouse on the right-hand side of
the unit and on the lower left of this
chamber is a microswitch dispenser.
This chamber maintains an optimal paraffin
temperature with an adjustable
thermostatic control.
3.Microscreen-filters particles or sediment.
4.Microswitch dispenser-Provides a
non-clogging flow of
molten paraffin for the casting of the molds
when the plate is
gently pressed.
5.Hot and Cold Orientation Platforms-For
different
operations of the embedding procedure.
6.Waste drawer-Catches excess paraffin.
7.Hot well-to preheat forceps.
FLOATATION WATER BATH
➢Designed to prevent wrinkling and
distortion during preparation of
paraffin-embedded tissue sections.
➢Water baths are filled with distilled
water, heated to a temperature 5-
10° C below the melting point of
paraffin.
➢This apparatus measures 11 inches
in diameter by 4 inches heigh and
may contain 2 liters of water
 collagen and elastic fibers, muscle fibers
and red blood cells

➢ Cell nuclei a purplish blue, and eosin

stains the extracellular matrix and
cytoplasm pink, with other structures
taking on different shades, hues, and
combinations of these colors.

SLIDE DRYER

Formalin
Paraffin wax
Xylene
Chloroform
Benzene
Toluene
Carbon tetrachloride
Alcohol
Isopentane Ruler
Autopsy table
Hematoxylin and Eosin Stain Bone saw
➢Provides a comprehensive picture of the Scalpel/surgical blade
microanatomy of organs and tissues. Scissors
➢Hematoxylin precisely stains nuclear Rib shears
components, including heterochromatin Toothed forceps
and nucleoli, while eosin stains Weighing Scale
cytoplasmic components including
 and non-nuclear structures.
2. Acetic acid
• Differentiation and removal of
excessive dye
• Fixatives that help prevent the
loss of nucleic acids

3. Ammonia water
➢Bluing solutions
4.Aniline
➢ Determining the maturity of a nucleus.
5.Celoidine
➢ A concentrated form of pyroxylin
used to embed tissues for cutting
and microscopic examination.

6.Mayer's egg albumin

• Firmly glues the section to
the slide, thus fully impeding
its fragmentation
• Commercial adhesives,
maintaining a transparent
appearance to the slide's
background

7. Ethylene glycol
➢Antifreeze agent
8. Formalin 10%
➢tissue fixation
9.Ethyl Alcohol
➢A reducing agents
___________________________________
LABORATORY STOCK SOLUTION
Hematoxylin and Eosin Stain (or H&E Stain)
COMMONLY USED IN
➢most commonly used stain in
HISTOPATHOLOGIC TECHNIQUE
histopathology
➢ a comprehensive picture of the
1. Acid alcohol
microanatomy of organs and
➢Acid alcohol is used as a
tissues.
decolorizing agent
Xylene
➢To remove excess stain
➢A clearing agent.
➢hematoxylin eosin (HE) staining
ACETONE
and PAP methods.
➢A fixative and dehydrant for tissue
➢ provides excellent
processing
differentiation between nuclear
___________________________________ cells of the cervix look different from the
PAPANICOLAOU STAINING METHOD normal cells
(PAP’S SMEAR) Morphology-refers to the variation in size,
shape,form and external appearance of
Pap smear cells
Pap smear involves collecting cells
from your cervix — the lower,
narrow end of your uterus that's at
the top of your vagina.

Procedures

80% cell from the main layers of vaginal

epithelium,superficial,intermediate and deep
cell.
50% cell with shrunken,dark,small structure
fewer nucleuses.

Pap smear test

➢used to screen for cervical cancer
➢Women age 21 to 29 should have a Pap
test alone every 3 years. ACIDOPHILIC INDEX / EOSINOPHILIC
➢Used to determined chromosomal sex, INDEX /
the effect of estrogen hormones and cornification index - refers to the percentage
presence of of
infection.
cells staining pink-orange to red with PAP’s ➢Bronchial aspirates
stain. ➢Pleural and peritoneal fluid
Method to obtaining the specimen:
➢Aspiration
➢Swabs
➢Abrasive technique
➢Lavage
______________________________
QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND
RECEIVING OF SPECIMEN FOR TISSUE
PROCESSING
Definition of terms
Quality-is the degree of congruence
between expectation and realization.
Quality Control-A set of procedures or
technical activities on fulfilling quality
requirement.
Quality manual-is the most important
document in the histopathology
laboratory.
Quality Assurance(QA)-Getting the Right
EXFOLIATIVE CYTOLOGY test at the right time on the right
➢Microscopic examination of shed cells specimen from the right patient with the
from body surfaces or right diagnosis and at the right price.
cell harvested by rubbing or brushing a "Cover all aspects”
lesioned tissue surface.
➢First introduced by Papanicolau in 1941. Quality
➢It’s a simple ,pain free , noninvasive and Management System(QMS)
rapid technique. A set of Coordinated activities to regulate a
➢It is a study of superficial cells and laboratory in the order to continually
requires other cytological improve the efficiency of its performance.
analysis to confirm by surgical biopsy.
➢Its useful application in the diagnosis of QMS concerned with:
malignant disease ➢Good Sampling
Smears are made from ➢Tissue processing with quality reagents
material obtained from ➢Providing supplies and equipment
various regions: ➢Receiving
➢Vaginal ➢Documenting
➢Endocervical ➢Validating results
➢Endometrial smear ➢Releasing of report(with ensured quality)
➢Prostatic smears
➢Smears of urine sediments To ensure an effective QMS:
➢Sputum ➢Skilled Histotechnologist/Histotechnicians
➢Gastric ➢Proper specimen collection
➢Proper processing of specimen
➢Efficient processing of results
➢High Quality of reagent and equipment
➢Preventive maintenance of equipment
➢Continuous professional education of staff
➢Documentation and control
➢Proper coordination
➢Timely Customer’s feedback
and others.(demographics)
2. Ensure the report reach-clinical/surgeons.
3. Block may be stored for at least 10 years.
4. Slide are stored for 10 years
5. Any possible remarks on diagnosis
should be indicated
6. Frequent dialogues between pathologist
and surgeons.

FACTOR AFFECTING THE THREE

PHASES OF EXAMINATION

PRE-EXAMINATION(PRE-ANALYTICAL)
FACTORS
RE-EXAMINATION FACTORS:
1. Collection of the right specimen
2. The proper fixation of the specimen
3. The correct identification of the specimen
4. The timely transportation of the specimen

EXAMINATION (ANALYTICAL FACTORS)

*****Specimen is processes in the
laboratory within 24hours after
collection.*****
1. Grossing to tissue
2. Processing
3. Procedure reliability using technical
manuals
4. Reagent integrity and efficiency
Gross examination of specimen
5. Cutting of paraffin section
6. Staining
One of the most important process in which
7. Slide labelling
the pathologist arrives at a diagnosis
8. Equipment reliability
9. Adequate calibration
(examine and describe the features
10. Proficiency of personnel and continuous
specimen)
updating of their knowledge
11. Good internal quality control
First step
POST EXAMINATION(POST ANALYTICAL)
FACTORS
1. Render histopathologic diagnosis(hard
copy or electronic) free of
clerical errors by checking for laterality, the
correct patient's name
Mailing 1. Discrepancies between the requisition
and specimen labels.
2. Specimen with no labels or mislabeled
3. Leaking specimen containers
4. Absent clinical data or history
5. Inappropriately identified specimen

HISTOPATHOLOGY SECTION
Specimen size: Small,Medium,Large(1.0cm
tick section “bread-loafing),XL, Materials used for gross examination:
XXL,TAHBSO(XL) 1. Cutting tools
Standard dissecting
kits/sets:scissors,forceps,blade holders
and blades.(****must clean before and
after***)
2. Dissection Board
a heavy duty, hard acrylic plastic material
that makes it
ideal for supporting soft tissues that are
subjected to the
cutting and dissection process.
3.Cassette
Standard tissue cassettes measure 3.0 x
2.5 x 0.4 cm
4.Markers: Inks colors-suturing(specified to
request form)

Basic information that should be recorded

upon receipt of tissue specimen:
➢Date/time(Am/Pm)
➢Patient name(Last,First,Middle)-Double
check
➢Specimen Number-( Double check form
and container)
➢Specimen Source(miscellaneous/Bilateral
organ)

MEDTECH RECEPTIONIST-Role is to
validate and check the specimen container
and request form *****Specimen must fit easily into the
cassette and should not be more than 0.3
Criteria for rejection of gross cm in thickness.*****
specimen:
1. NUMBERING
➢First and most important step in
histopathology.
➢Identify all specimen received without the
need of writing the patient’s
name to the accompanying specimen tag.
➢Entering the details of the specimen in a
logbook.
➢In numbering, the specimen number is
preceded by either
S(surgical)
A(Autopsy)
C(Cytology)
➢Year is also indicated
EXAMPLE:S99-0345

➢After numbering, The pathologist will

describe the gross description of the
specimen.
➢The MT will then write down the
description at the back of the request.
➢Use pencil in writing the description of the
tissue specimen.

Specimen size for processing:

➢3 x 2 cm and 3-5 mm
➢1% eosin can be added for small tissue
➢Tissue slices should be taken at Hight
angle to the surface
of the organ.
➢For Electron Microscopy:Specimen
should be 1mm3