Control paraffin tablet and method for producing same

Abstract

To provide a paraffin tablet capable of improving the process of attaching a control section to a slide glass, and a method for producing the same. [Solution] A control paraffin tablet according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a paraffin-embedded tissue section of known stainability and a paraffin plate, with the tissue section attached to one main surface of the paraffin plate. With this configuration, the paraffin-embedded tissue section, which serves as the control section, is attached to the paraffin, making it easy to adjust the size of the tissue section and adjust it as needed on the specimen slide, eliminating variations in the degree of staining. Furthermore, because the paraffin tablet is stored with the paraffin-embedded tissue section attached, compared to storing it on a slide, for example, the storage burden is reduced and disposal costs are also reduced.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a control paraffin tablet and a method for preparing the same. [Background technology]

[0002] Common pathological tissue testing methods include a method of staining a single glass slide to which a specimen tissue section, which is the pathological tissue to be tested, and a control tissue section, which is a tissue with known stainability, are attached, and a method of simultaneously staining a glass slide to which a specimen tissue section and a control tissue section are attached. Patent Document 1 is known as an example of the former method. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-158364 A (see especially paragraph

[0030] ) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the conventional histopathological examination, tissue sections cut from pathological tissues or tissues with known staining properties are coated with paraffin. embeddingThe tissue is then thinly sliced ​​and stored as a paraffin block. Then, at the time of staining, a portion of the paraffin block is sliced ​​and attached to a glass slide. In this process, for example, tissue slices containing paraffin are cut out into slices several micrometers thick. These sliced ​​tissue slices (hereinafter referred to as tissue slices) are attached to a glass slide in a water basin, stretched, and dried. Then, as pretreatments before staining, baking (enough attachment by heating) and deparaffinization are performed. These processes are cumbersome, but are essential for tissue slices for histopathological examination (hereinafter also referred to as specimen tissue slices). This is because specimen tissue slices that are the subject of histopathological examinations are preferably attached to a glass slide at the time of staining, without being stored for a long period of time.

[0005] On the other hand, for tissue sections with known stainability (hereinafter also referred to as control tissue sections), a glass slide (hereinafter also referred to as control slide) on which a control tissue section has been attached after pretreatment for staining may be stored without staining. When a glass slide (hereinafter also referred to as specimen slide) on which a specimen tissue section has been attached after pretreatment for staining is stained, the stored control slide may also be stained at the same time. This is because preparing control slides in advance facilitates the work of histopathological examinations. However, since the stainability of control tissue sections decreases after thin sections are made from paraffin blocks, control slides that have not been used after the period during which the stainability of the control tissue sections can be maintained have had to be discarded along with the glass slide.

[0006] Furthermore, depending on the type of staining, the frequency of use of each control slide had to be considered, and the required number of slides had to be prepared, and control slides that were likely to run out had to be constantly replenished.

[0007] As described above, conventionally, there is a method of preparing a specimen slide and a control slide and staining these slides simultaneously, but preparing a control slide separately from the specimen slide requires manual labor. On the other hand, there is also a method of attaching a specimen tissue section and a control tissue section to the same slide glass and staining the slide, but this method has the problem of being cumbersome to attach a specimen tissue section and a control tissue section to the same slide glass.

[0008] Currently, the most common method is to stain one control slide with the specimen slides from the same group, but in the future, it is thought that a method of staining specimen sections and control sections on a single slide will be strongly recommended.

[0009] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a control paraffin tablet and a method for producing the same that can improve the process of attaching control sections to slide glasses. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention was conceived through the following process. Staining requires precision control of staining properties, and there are several methods for doing so. As mentioned above, there are two typical methods: one is to stain not only the specimen slide but also a control slide in the same staining process (hereinafter referred to as method (a)), and the other is to stain a slide with both specimen and control sections on the same slide (hereinafter referred to as method (b)). In daily testing, method (a) is generally used, taking into account the effort required and the required accuracy. However, method (b) requires more effort, but has higher staining accuracy. immunityDue to the increasing importance of staining tests, it is believed that there will likely be a demand for method (b) in the future. Therefore, in order to realize method (b), the present invention was conceived for the purpose of providing convenience.

[0011] In order to achieve the above object, a control paraffin tablet according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: A paraffin tablet cut into control sections and placed on the same slide as the specimen tissue sections, The apparatus includes a paraffin-embedded tissue section of known stainability and a paraffin plate, with the tissue section attached to one main surface of the paraffin plate. According to this configuration, the control section is a known paraffin-embedded tissue section attached to the paraffin, making it easy to adjust the size of the tissue section and adjust it as needed on the specimen slide, eliminating variations in the degree of staining. Furthermore, since the paraffin-embedded tissue section is stored in the form of a paraffin tablet attached thereto, compared to storage on a glass slide, for example, the storage burden is reduced and disposal costs are also reduced. As a result, the process of attaching the control section to the glass slide can be improved.

[0012] The thickness of the paraffin plate may be in the range of 1 to 5 mm.

[0013] The paraffin plate may be made of hard paraffin.

[0014] This configuration is more suitable for thin slicing on a slicer than when soft paraffin is used.

[0015] Furthermore, a method for producing a control paraffin tablet according to another aspect of the present invention includes the steps of preparing a paraffin plate, and immersing a tissue having known stainability in paraffin. embedding the step of preparing a paraffin block with the tissue embedded therein and having known stainability; the step of slicing the paraffin block to prepare paraffin-embedded tissue sections with known stainability; the step of placing the tissue sections on one main surface of the paraffin plate in a water basin; and the step of drying the paraffin plate with the tissue sections placed on one main surface, thereby obtaining a paraffin plate with the tissue sections attached to one main surface.

[0016] According to this configuration, a control paraffin tablet can be suitably produced, which can improve the process of attaching a known tissue section, which will be used as a control tissue section, onto a slide glass.

[0017] The paraffin may be hard paraffin.

[0018] This configuration is more suitable for thin slicing on a slicer than when soft paraffin is used. [Effects of the Invention]

[0019] The present invention has the effect of providing a control paraffin tablet and a method for producing the same that can improve the process of attaching a control section to a slide glass. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a control paraffin tablet according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a side view of the control paraffin tablet of FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a method for producing the control paraffin tablet of FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of how to cut the control paraffin tablet of FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 shows the use of the control section cut in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a pathological examination using the control section cut in FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a process subsequent to the process of FIG. 6 in the pathological examination of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that, hereinafter, identical or corresponding elements throughout the drawings will be designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted. Furthermore, since the following drawings are for explaining the present disclosure, elements unrelated to the present disclosure may be omitted, dimensions may be inaccurate due to exaggeration or the like, or may be simplified, and the shapes of corresponding elements may not match in multiple drawings. Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0022] (definition) In the specification and claims of this application, a tissue excised from a pathological tissue or a tissue with known staining properties is defined as a "tissue slice," and a thin slice (thin section) of the "tissue slice" is defined as a "section."

[0023] (Embodiment)

[0024] [composition] Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a control paraffin tablet 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the control paraffin tablet 10 of Fig. 1. Referring to Fig. 1, the control paraffin tablet 10 according to the embodiment is embedding A control sample includes a tissue section 1 and a paraffin plate 2. embedding The tissue section 1 contains a control tissue section 3 and paraffin, and the control tissue section 1 is placed on one main surface 2a of a paraffin plate 2. embedding A tissue section 1 is attached to the substrate. These elements will be explained in detail below.

[0025] <Control embedding Tissue section 1> control embedding The tissue section 1 is prepared according to a widely known method for processing tissue for pathological examination. Specifically, first, a tissue section with known stainability as a control is coated with paraffin. embedding and a control tissue paraffin block (not shown). Fabrication Next, cut the control tissue paraffin block into thin sections with a thickness of 3 to 5 μm using a thin sectioning table. embedding This is tissue section 1. In addition, the control embedding The control tissue section 3 included in the tissue section 1 actually has a complex shape, but for convenience, it is shown in a simplified schematic shape (oval) in Figure 1. Reference numeral 4 denotes the control embedding In tissue section 1, control tissue section 3 was paraffinized. embeddingThe paraffin (thin section of the paraffin portion of the control tissue paraffin block) is shown.

[0026] <Paraffin plate 2> Referring to FIG. 2, a control embedding Tissue section 1 is attached. Paraffin plate 2 is the control. embedding It has a function of holding the tissue slice 1 and a function of dissolving the tissue slice 1 by baking while it is placed on the glass slide 6 as a control tissue slice 10a, thereby fixing the control tissue slice 3 on the glass slide.

[0027] The thickness of the paraffin plate 2 is preferably 0.5 to 10 mm, more preferably 1 to 5 mm, and most preferably 2 to 3 mm, in consideration of ease of handling, strength, and the time required for baking.

[0028] The paraffin, which is the material of the paraffin plate 2, is an alkane (alkane: general formula C n H 2n+2 ) is a general term for saturated hydrocarbons that do not contain a cyclic structure in the carbon skeleton but only have a chain structure. Paraffin is classified into soft paraffin (melting point 45 to 52°C) and hard paraffin (melting point 54 to 60°C). In this embodiment, embedding Hard paraffin is used from the viewpoint of its strength in holding the tissue section 1.

[0029] Control like this embedding Tissue section 1 is attached to paraffin plate 2 and stored to serve as a control section. embedding This makes it easier to store the tissue slice 1 than storing it on a glass slide, and reduces disposal costs.

[0030] [Manufacturing method] Next, a method for producing the control paraffin tablet 10 configured as above will be described with reference to Figs. 1 and 3. The paraffin used in the following description and the equipment used (thin sectioning table, automatic embeddingThe device (e.g., device, paraffin block preparation device) is not particularly limited as long as it is one used in general pathological examinations, so the manufacturer and model number will not be described. Figure 3 is a flowchart showing a method for preparing the control paraffin tablet 10 of Figure 1.

[0031] Referring to Figures 1 and 3, the method for producing this control paraffin tablet 10 includes a paraffin plate preparation step (step S1), a paraffin block preparation step (step S2), a tissue slice preparation step (step S3), a tissue slice placement step (step S4), and a control paraffin tablet acquisition step (step S5).

[0032] <Paraffin plate preparation process (step S1)> In this step, for example, liquid hard paraffin (melted at a temperature of about 60°C) is poured into a container to a thickness of 2 to 3 mm, and then cooled on a cooling plate or the like to form a paraffin plate 2. The material of the container can be, for example, a Teflon (registered trademark)-coated container, but is not particularly limited as long as it is a material that does not melt at the temperature of paraffin or liquid paraffin.

[0033] The thickness of the paraffin plate 2 is set to 2 to 3 mm, but is not particularly limited to this in consideration of ease of handling, strength, and the time required for baking. For example, the thickness may be in the range of 0.5 to 10 mm, or may be in the range of 1 to 5 mm.

[0034] <Paraffin block preparation step (step S2)> In this step, a tissue piece with known stainability, which will ultimately become the control section 10a (see Figure 5), is fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin (hereinafter also referred to as fixative), and then the tissue is removed from the fixative and washed with water (tap water or distilled water). After washing with water, the necessary part is cut out from the tissue and used as the tissue piece. The tissue piece is then automatically embeddingThe tissue is dehydrated using an apparatus with alcohol (such as 100% ethanol), treated with an intermediate agent such as xylene, and then infiltrated with paraffin solution. After infiltration with paraffin, the tissue pieces are embedded in paraffin poured into an embedding dish using a paraffin block preparation apparatus, cooled, solidified, and removed from the embedding dish to create a control tissue paraffin block.

[0035] <Tissue slice preparation step (step S3)> In this step, the control tissue paraffin block obtained in the paraffin block preparation step is sliced ​​thinly on a thin sectioning table (sliding microtome), and the obtained thin sections are used as control tissue sections. embedding This is tissue section 1. Control embedding The thickness of the tissue slice 1 is preferably 3 to 5 μm, but is not particularly limited to this thickness. For example, it may be 2 to 3 μm depending on the use.

[0036] <Tissue Slice Mounting Step (Step S4)> In this process, the control slices were sliced ​​to a thickness of 3 to 5 μm. embedding The tissue slice 1 is floated in a water basin and placed on one main surface 2a of the paraffin plate 2 prepared in the paraffin plate preparation step.

[0037] <Control paraffin tablet acquisition process (step S5)> In this process, the paraffin plate 2 is embedding After placing the tissue section 1, the control embedding With the surface on which the tissue slice 1 is placed facing up, the paraffin plate 2 is returned to the container in which it was prepared, and the container is stretched and dried on a stretching and drying table at a temperature of just over 40 degrees Celsius. Thereafter, the container is cooled on a cooling plate or the like, so that the control film is formed on one main surface 2a of the paraffin plate 2. embedding A tissue section 1 is attached, and a control paraffin tablet 10 is obtained.

[0038] 4 is a diagram showing an example of how to cut a control paraffin tablet. As shown in Fig. 4, the control paraffin tablet 10 is cut into control sections 10a according to the purpose using a sharp scalpel or the like, and used as control tissue sections for the specimen tissue section 5.

[0039] In this way, a control tissue section (control section 10a) can be prepared without any complicated operations at the time of use.

[0040] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a method for using the control section 10a cut in Fig. 4. In practice, the specimen tissue section 5 is also paraffin-coated, just like the control section 10a. embedding However, since it is not directly related to the present invention, it will be omitted. This also applies to subsequent figures. Furthermore, the specimen tissue section 5 actually has a complex shape, but for convenience, it is shown as a simplified schematic shape (rectangle). As shown in Figure 5, control sections 10a cut from the control paraffin tablet 10 in Figure 4 are placed on the same slide as the specimen tissue section 5, and it is shown that they can be used on multiple slides. In this way, as many control sections 10a as cut can be used as control tissue sections. Although Figure 5 shows two slides as an example, in reality, as many slides as the number of cut control sections 10a can be used as control tissue sections. Compared to conventional control slide preparation methods, the present invention offers excellent work efficiency in terms of the number of slides that can be prepared at one time, ease of preparation and use, cost performance, and convenience of disposal.

[0041] 6 and 7 are diagrams showing an example of use of a control slice 10a cut out from a control paraffin tablet 10 according to this embodiment.

[0042] <Usage example> Referring to Fig. 6, a control section 10a is placed on the slide glass 6 on which the specimen tissue section 5 is placed. embedding The tissue slice 1 is placed so as to be in contact with the slide glass 6. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the paraffin plate 2 is placed above the control slice 10a, and the control embedding The tissue slice 1 is placed on a glass slide 6 so that it is positioned below the control slice 10a.

[0043] After the control section 10a is placed on the slide glass 6, the slide glass 6 is heated and dried on an extension table while being kept horizontal. Furthermore, the excess paraffin plate 2 on the control section 10a is heated and melted (hereinafter also referred to as baking) in a dryer at about 70 degrees Celsius, and the control embedding A control tissue section 3 (see Figures 1 and 5) of the tissue section 1 is thoroughly attached to a glass slide 6 (see Figure 7). The temperature of the dryer is not limited to the above temperature and can be changed appropriately depending on the use. For example, the temperature may be set within a range of 58 to 70 degrees Celsius depending on the type of antibody reagent. Similarly, the drying time may be set appropriately depending on the specifications.

[0044] This work is done using paraffin embedding This may be performed at the same time as preparing the slide glass 6 on which the sample tissue section 5 is placed, or may be performed at the same time as preparing the slide glass 6 on which the sample tissue section 5 is placed. Fabrication Alternatively, the procedure may be performed on a slide glass 6 that has been stored as such.

[0045] By performing the staining process after the baking process, it is possible to control the stainability of the specimen tissue section and the control tissue section on the same slide glass.

[0046] [Action and effect] According to the control paraffin tablet 10 of this embodiment, a control tissue section (control section 10a) can be easily attached to any location on the slide glass 6, thereby reducing the complexity of the work.

[0047] Furthermore, by adjusting the control paraffin tablet 10 to the necessary and sufficient size, storage space can be saved compared to preparing separate control slides, and costs can be reduced by eliminating the need to discard control slides that have exceeded their storage period.

[0048] (Other embodiments) In the above embodiment, an automatic staining device capable of automatically carrying out the baking treatment and deparaffinization treatment may be used. In this case, the control section 10a is placed on the slide glass 6, so that the control embedding The control tissue section 3 of tissue section 1 is heated to fully attach it and can then be used immediately.

[0049] Many modifications and alternative embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the above description, and therefore the above description should be construed as illustrative only. [Industrial Applicability]

[0050] The control paraffin tablet and the method for producing the same of the present invention are useful as a control paraffin tablet and a method for producing the same that can improve the process of attaching a control section to a slide glass. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1. Control embedding tissue section 2 paraffin plates 2a One main surface of the paraffin plate 3. Control tissue sections 4. Paraffin 5. Sample tissue sections 6 glass slides 10 Control Paraffin Tablets 10a Control section

Claims

1. A paraffin tablet cut into control sections and placed on the same slide as a specimen tissue section, Paraffin-embedded tissue sections of known stainability; a paraffin plate; A control paraffin tablet in which the tissue section is attached to one main surface of the paraffin plate.

2. A control paraffin tablet as described in claim 1, wherein the thickness of the paraffin plate is in the range of 1 to 5 mm.

3. 3. The control paraffin tablet according to claim 1, wherein the material of the paraffin plate is hard paraffin.

4. providing a paraffin plate; A step of preparing a paraffin block in which tissue of known stainability is embedded in paraffin; Slicing the paraffin block to prepare paraffin-embedded tissue sections of known stainability; placing the tissue section on one main surface of the paraffin plate in a water basin; A method for preparing a control paraffin tablet, comprising the steps of: drying the paraffin plate with the tissue section placed on one of its main surfaces, thereby obtaining a paraffin plate with the tissue section attached to one of its main surfaces.

5. 5. The method for producing a control paraffin tablet according to claim 4, wherein the material of the paraffin plate is hard paraffin.

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