I have for years worked with animal and human IHC and would have said in the past that the Dako open system autostainer was the way to go with the most flexibility, I still have the old one and use it all the time because you can absolutely use what ever reagent you want and there are way cheaper ways to go than buying these from Dako, Ventana, Leica, or BioCare, or the others. Now that Dako has gone with the more closed system like Ventana I cannot recommend them for open use anymore, a big mistake by Dako in my opinion.
The Leica Bond instrument may be an option. They have a research software version that allows you to use open containers and fill them with whose ever reagents you want, BioCare also has an open system new on the market. Sometimes I wonder if in research IHC if it might not be a lot cheaper and we would have better control and understand more about what we are doing if we went back to manual IHC. For the Vet. Lab wanting to start their own IHC work with not a lot of volume and untrained techs, I would definitely want my techs to learn by doing manual staining before I put some instrument in there that will teach them more about how to use the computer software than anything about IHC, but that is just the opinion of an old school gal who sees that there are a lot of people doing critical IHC work who do not understand what they are doing. Best regards, Patsy Patsy Ruegg, HT(ASCP)QIHC IHCtech 12635 Montview Blvd. Ste.215 Aurora, CO 80045 720-859-4060 fax 720-859-4110 www.ihctech.net www.ihcrg.org -----Original Message----- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Pamela Marcum Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 7:50 PM To: Greg Dobbin Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu; swea...@tvmdl.tamu.edu; Ronald Houston Subject: Re: [Histonet] IHC stainer Just be sure it is an open system that will allow you to use any primary antibody you need and secondary antibody not just a secondary kit the company provides. You will need to confirm that if you are using a chicken primary for instance, you can get and use a secondary link that will work with the chicken primary to get your staining reaction. Be very careful that it allows you flexibilty and is not designed for clinical standard usage with no ability to truly allow you the range required for animal work. I work with animal and it is hard to find everyhting you need and not all "standard" antibodies and systems will work across species. Good Luck, Pam marcum ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Dobbin" <gvdob...@ihis.org> To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu, "Ronald Houston" <ronald.hous...@nationwidechildrens.org>, swea...@tvmdl.tamu.edu Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 8:57:48 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: RE: [Histonet] IHC stainer I guess I would have to echo that as well! Cheers! Greg Greg Dobbin, R.T. Chief Technologist, Anatomic Pathology Dept. of Laboratory Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, P.O. Box 6600 Charlottetown, PE C1A 8T5 Phone: (902) 894-2337 Fax: (902) 894-2385 "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." - Thomas Jefferson >>> "Houston, Ronald" <ronald.hous...@nationwidechildrens.org> 3/13/2009 4:45:14 PM >>> Can't speak highly enough of the BondMax form Leica Microsystems. If cost is an issue and you're looking at what to avoid, IMHO avoid anything Ventana Ronnie Houston Anatomic Pathology Manager Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus OH 43205 (614) 722 5450 -----Original Message----- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Stephanie Weaver Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 3:17 PM To: histonet post Subject: [Histonet] IHC stainer I am in a veterinary diagnostic lab. In the past we have had very few requests for IHC and have always sent slides out to another lab to perform IHC as needed. It is time for us to start doing our own and join the modern age. We have several certified technicians, but none have experience with IHC and we typically have a relatively high turnover rate. Therefore, I am hoping to be able to buy an automated stainer. In the past most people on the list seemed to be very happy with the Dako autostainer, but this past week has brought so many bad remarks about Dako's service that I am reconsidering. We probably will not need a high capacity autostainer, but I would like walk-away capability with an easy to use system. It will need to accept other companies reagents, since veterinary infectious disease antibodies aren't often sold by the major companies. Also, cost is an issue and I would like to be able to bargain shop for reagents through other companies. Does anyone have any recommendations, or warnings as to what to avoid? In a related issue, where do other animal tissue people get their antibodies for infectious diseases, e.g. Parvovirus, canine distemper, or FIP? Thanks for the advice! Stephanie Weaver Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet ----------------------------------------- Confidentiality Notice: The following mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. The recipient is responsible to maintain the confidentiality of this information and to use the information only for authorized purposes. If you are not the intended recipient (or authorized to receive information for the intended recipient), you are hereby notified that any review, use, disclosure, distribution, copying, printing, or action taken in reliance on the contents of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. 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