The Principles of Clinical Cytogenetics - Extra Materials - Springer

Automation in the Cytogenetics Laboratory 117
Fig. 4. Floor model drying chamber. (Courtesy of Thermotron Industries.)
as heating), this chamber has been modified to control humidity as well, and fans have been installed
to allow for control of airflow over the cover slips. The advantages to this type of hardware are its
ability to maintain conditions, quick recovery time after opening the chamber to insert or remove
dishes, and potential for external venting if necessary. The disadvantage is the necessity to remove
the fixative prior to placing the dishes in the chamber, creating the potential for drying to begin under
noncontrolled conditions if there is any delay in getting the dishes into the chamber.
A variation on this theme is shown in Fig. 4. Here, the entire drying process, including aspiration
of fixative, can take place inside the chamber. The technologist sits at the unit and manipulates the
processing with a glove-box approach. The drawback to this concept is the large size of the unit, and
a somewhat more cumbersome and limiting setup; removing one or more cultures for examination
(an absolute requirement) can be more intrusive to the workflow.
These condition-controlled chambers are gaining in popularity in cytogenetics laboratories, and
some use them not only for in situ processing but also for routine slide making because of the consistency
they provide.
INSTRUMENTATION FOR FISH
Although FISH (see Chapter 17) represents one of the most exciting and clinically significant
developments of the last decade, most of the steps involved in preparing samples for analysis are
unremarkable and often repetitive and, therefore, lend themselves to automation. When one considers
the enormous increase in FISH sample volume most cytogenetics laboratories are experiencing,
any device that can reduce the labor component of the process becomes indispensable.