Automated Staining

Possibly the most difficult aspect of manual histopathological staining is maintaining consistency. BioGenex of San Ramon, Calif., has overcome this problem with the introduction of the i6000 Automated Tissue and Cell Staining System, the successor to the OptiMax Plus.¹ Philipp Novales-Li, director of scientific affairs at BioGenex, states that the i6000 "allows for industrial-scale and high-throughput walkaway automation, while bringing about standardized, accurate, and reliable results." At 30 slides per hour, the i6000 is 50 percent faster than the OptiMax Plus, and it can simultaneously process immunohistochemistry (IHC), in situ hybridization (ISH), hematoxylin-eosin (H&E), and special stains in the same run. The system also has an automated dewax process. BioGenex states that the i6000 is the first fully automated ISH system on the market, producing consistent and standardized ISH results in about four hours, a significant improvement over the manual process.