Rapid Microwave Tissue Processing and Staining Method Using a Kitchen Microwave Oven in Histopathology Laboratory

Abstract

Background: Histopathological diagnosis of a specimen requires good histoprocessing. It ultimately depends on sample preparation and staining, which is time consuming by routine tissue processing technique. The objective of the present study was to compare the reliability of kitchen microwave for tissue processing and staining with the standard conventional processing and staining in different tissue samples. Materials and Methods: The study sample included 204 specimens from different parts of the body. Three set of tissues were processed and three set of slides from each sample were stained by routine as well as microwave method and the quality of microscopic features was compared. Results: No significant difference was found in nuclear and cellular characters in case of staining by both methods. While, in case of processing, mean scoring for nuclear characters for routinely processed and microwave-stained (RM) slides was 6.95 ± 0.09 (confidence interval [CI] 6.83–0.09), for microwave-processed and microwave-stained (MM) slides, it was 6.82 ± 0.07 (CI 6.74–6.90) by observer 1 (P = 0.068). The mean score of cellular character of RM slides was 7.85 ± 0.06 (CI 7.76) and for MM slides, it was 7.65 ± 0.17 (CI 7.47–7.88) by observer 2 (P = 0.076). The microwave method was better for both processing (P = 0.001) and staining (P = 0.003) in case of small biopsies (P = 0.057). The microwave method was as good as routine method for processing of aorta and staining of breast and kidney tissues (P = 0.23, 0.32, and 0.38, respectively). The time taken by the microwave method is considerably less for both processing and staining. Conclusion: The microwave method requires less time when compared with the routine method, thus reducing the overall turnaround time which ultimately helps in rapid same-day diagnosis and patient management. Microwave can be preferred method for smaller biopsies when compared with large biopsies. Lack of automation and requirement of more manpower remain the major disadvantages for use of microwave method in large turnover histopathology laboratories.