Thanks for the advice.  When you say rotate the entire stylus from left
to right, do you mean so that the needle moves as well?  I've done that,
and once the core is stuck, it actually makes it worse because the
needle just moves around the core, making it even harder to get the core
to stick.  I only have trouble in some areas of some tissue samples (in
this case, kidney).  I position my donor needle to go as far down as I
dare to, and I don't know that our needles would be dull because we've
only had this machine for a few months.  Again, I appreciate your
advice.  Any ideas I can get are helpful.

Jackie    
>>> Luis Chiriboga  09/29/04 7:38 AM >>>
couple more ideas......  you want to work with sharp needles, they will
get
dull over time. If possible make sure that the needle travels all the
way
through the donor "tissue". This will decrease the likelihood of the
tissue
core remaining in the block due to it's attachment to surrounding
tissue.
If your dealing with very fibrous tissue, rotating the entire stylus
from
left to right when the needle is still in the donor block definitely
helps.
I have also found that occasionally there is wax build up in the donor
needle and that this interferes with removing donor cores.  We use the
plunger as a ram to keep the   bore clean (kind of like cleaning the
bore of
a cannon or gun with a ram rod in the olden days).  Hope this helps
Luis

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces@lists.utsouthwestern.edu]On Behalf Of Helen
Fedor
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 4:27 PM
To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu;
Jacqueline.Miller@UTSouthwestern.edu
Subject: Re: [Histonet] tissue microarray problem


Hi,
Move the handle back and forth a couple of times and then gently Tamp
on top of the stylus. these two steps have always take care of any
resistant core removal.
Helen

Helen L. Fedor B.S.
Johns Hopkins University
Pathology Department
600 N Wolfe St
Marburg Room 406
Baltimore MD 21287
email: hfedor@jhmi.edu
Phone: 410 614-1660
Pager: 410 283-3419

WARNING: E-mail sent over the Internet is not secure. Information sent
by e-mail may not remain confidential.
DISCLAIMER: This e-mail is intended only for the individual to whom it
is addressed. It may be used only in accordance with applicable laws. If
you received this e-mail by mistake, notify the sender and destroy the
e-mail.



>>> Jacqueline Miller  09/28/04
03:57PM >>>
Hi everyone,

I'm making several practice tissue microarrays, and I'm having a lot
of
problem with not being able to retrieve the donor core.  In other
words,
after I punch the donor block, the core does not stay in the needle as
the needle is withdrawn.  Instead, the core remains in the block and
the
only way to get it out is to pry it out, which ruins the surrounding
tissue.  I appreciate any tips that anyone can offer as to how to
retrieve the core when this happens, or better yet, how to keep this
from happening in the first place.

Thanks,
Jackie

_______________________________________________
Histonet mailing list
Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet

_______________________________________________
Histonet mailing list
Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet



_______________________________________________
Histonet mailing list
Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet