It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa.-Alan Perlis

The Histology Automation Revolution is coming! the Histology Automation Revolution is coming!

For the past ten years, we in the field have been told to watch for the technology rider to gallop to our labs and announce that new automation is here. The rider has come to our labs several times, but it seems to me he is at a slow walk and the lamp of true technology change has not yet been lit. I do not think we will wait much longer.

I know what you are saying to yourself, hasn’t he seen all the new instruments that we can buy?! There are automated slide stainer/cover-slipper  combos and rapid and microwave tissue processors, technology is all around us. Yeah, but those are only the advance guard and I see “upgrades” to many of the same old processes and instrument platforms. When will the army of innovative automation arrive to truly reduce the workflow bottlenecks and create a giant leap in quality? Sure technicians can walk away from existing processes at many steps and we can use management tools to clean up, but we are fighting the battle with old technology. I say it is time to consider creating a new process, it’s time for a new method!

There are four major bottleneck in the existing Histotechnology process and they are not being adequately addressed by automation; grossing of tissues, embedding blocks, cutting slides and now a rapid decline in trained technical staff. To date there is only one automation advance that has tackled one of the bottlenecks - embedding blocks, and that is the AutoTEC automated embedding instrument. This advance is met with push back because people are resistant to change.

To help address the increasing workload, I say we need a revolutionary change in tissue sampling, such as one that recently came to Cytology or has been used for many years in Flow Cytometry. We need a new sample collection process that will allow for true standardization and automation of the diagnostic biopsy and continue to provide the Pathologists “cells” to stain and attach antibodies and probes.

Histotechnicians/Histotechnologists need time to redirect their efforts to add value to the existing process and help produce new diagnostic tools for our Pathologist partners and results for our patients.

I continue to look for the new technology rider and a bright signal for change. What have you seen or what are you waiting for?