Hellllooo! This is the last blog entry for SIP! 2 more weeks for SIP to end!
I'm currently attached to heamatology lab now.
This blog entry would be on cytospin.
I'll try to keep it concise:D
Introduction
For oncology patients, CSF is usually taken for testing. This is so as infiltration of blast cells into the CSF can occur for oncology pateints. To confirm such findings, CSF smear is done to examine blast cells which is important.
To make a CSF smear, a cyto-centrifuge is used. This centrifuge is specially designed for CSF and fluid sample.
A normal healthy individual should not have any blast cells in the CSF. This is used as a reference for screening of blast cells in the CSF.
How is it done..
1. Firstly CSF is collected in the EDTA tube.
2. 300 microlitre of CSF sample is then pipetted into the sample chamber of the cytopad.
3. A glass slide is labeled with a small LIS label and initialed by the medical technologists.
4. It is then loaded right behind the chamber frame
5.It is balanced by placing a empty chamber on the opposite side.
6. The lid is then placed and the whole rotor is placed on the drive hub and spinned for 5 mins.
After centrifugation, cells and the sediments in the CSF is being deposited on the glass slide.The glass slide is taken out for staining and the cytopad is discarded into the biohazad bag.
Staining...
The glass side is air-dried and stained manually using Leishman's stain.
1. The glass side is flooded with Leishman's stain
2. Then, twice the amount of phosphate buffer is added on top of the stain
3.The glass slide is left to stain for 5 mins
4. The slides are them washed and left to air dry on the rack
5. Slides are then viewed under the microscope under high power (40X, 100X)
If cells appear to be disintegrated, then the whole process have to be repeated. But if the cell population is too high, then the sample may be eluted in saline.
This whole process only takes about 15 mins! That's it for this blog entry:D
Hope u guys have enjoyed ur SIP...cya back in sch!:D
Neela
TG02
