Subject: Hand held stainer
Date: Thurs.  9/23/99
From: Abe Gordon (President Concept-to-Product Corp.)
<abegordon.ctp.corp@worlnet.att.net>
To: Histotechs and Pathologists

In my experience with histotechs and pathologists, I often found that
automated stainers were not available, or when they were, they were
often not operational.  In many of the smaller hospitals and labs there
was little justification for the purchase of expensive equipment, and
the small number of slides that were processed, were manually stained,
sometimes only one or two at a time.  

The engineering part of my background led me to try to rectify this
condition and what I came up with is a hand-held stainer that would be
suitable for one or two slides at a time.  In order to manufacture this
item at low cost, expensive injection molding tooling has to be
fabricated. Before incurring that expense, I would like to know from
you, the potential users, whether or not there is a need for this
product. 

Hand held stainer:
This hand-held, non-breakable polypropylene stainer measures 3 x 4 x
2-1/2 inches tall, and can easily be held in your hand.  They are
intended for use in small hospitals or labs which cannot justify the
expense of automated stainers.  The sealable lids and small size makes
it practical to carry from one lab to another. The stainer has the
following characteristics:
#183# Each of the 12 chambers (two rows of  six chambers) is just large
enough to hold two standard 1x3 inch (or 25x75 mm) glass slides
back-to-back.
#183# The chambers have waterproof hinged lids to prevent evaporation or
contamination.
#183# Two or more stainers can be igangedi together to make up any desired
array in multiples of 12.  Mating dovetails on all the edges of each
stainer permits igangingi of multiple stainers in both directions.
#183# The hold-up volume in each chamber is 15-20 mls, enough to cover the
active area of the slide.  The small hold-up volume makes it simple and
inexpensive to replace the staining reagents. 

The stainers will be available in 6 pastel colors; pale green, pink,
pale blue, yellow and red.  

Any comments or inquiries are greatly appreciated and should be sent
directly to me.

Thank you, 

Abe Gordon