> Our lab pathologist has asked me to investigate the
> use of tissue dyes at the surgery stage in the O.R.

Never trust a surgeon ;-)

IMHO, normally in the O.R. nobody has the time to colour the specimen
properly. We receive breast tissue marked with 3-4 sutures, the Long means
Lateral, the Medium Medial, the short cranial and we (Pathologists) apply
the dyes in our grosssing room. A photograph of the specimen helps a lot (we
use a digital cam for this reason), but you can use also a cheap digital
scanner for this (see Trevor Beer's letter in the Am J Surg Pathol
24:1170-1;2000).

We recently changed our dyes to Hauptner's ink for tattooing cattle and
sheep (www.hauptner.de) with very good results. As their dyes are on a
gel-like basis they are much easier to apply and after 1-2 min drying they
do not wash out. They are also very cheap, 75 ml are about 7.50 Euro.

Alexander Nader
Vienna