Tom,

I used the manual staining method for 15 years, and switched over to
automated 2 years ago (DAKO autostainer).  The results have been consistent
with the autostainer and I am very happy with it.  My overall staining run
time is comparable between the two systems, but with the autostainer, I can
walk away for a few hours and do other things (like set up my next run or
catch up on IHC journal articles - yeah, right).  There are a few antibodies
that I use which require longer incubation times (at 4C), so I still have to
do some manual staining each week, but that's manageable in addition to
doing the autostaining runs.

Jan Shivers
Univ. of Minn. Vet Diagnostic Lab

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Wells <tomers@home.com>
To: 'histonet' <histonet@pathology.swmed.edu>
Date: Friday, December 01, 2000 11:17 AM
Subject: manual vs automated IHC


>We are in the process of automating our IHC lab. I am curious as to the
>number of labs who are automated vs. the ones who still use manual
staining.
>We average between 20 to 30 slides per day. Any feedback would be
>appreciated. Thanks. Tom.
>
>Tom Wells, BSc, ART
>Supervisor, Immunohistochemistry Laboratory
>Lions Gate Hospital
>North Vancouver, BC
>Canada
>
>
>