Roberts A, Trainor K E, Weeks B, Jackson N, Troughton R W, Charles C J, Rademaker M T, Melton I C, Crozier I G, Hafelfinger W, Gutfinger D E, Eigler N L, Abraham W T, Clubb F J
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Department of Cardiology, Christchurch Hospital and University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
J Histotechnol. 2013 Mar;36(1):17-24. doi: 10.1179/2046023613Y.0000000021.
The safety and efficacy of an implantable left atrial pressure (LAP) monitoring system is being evaluated in a clinical trial setting. Because the number of available specimens from the clinical trial for histopathology analysis is limited, it is beneficial to maximize the usage of each available specimen by relying on integrated microscopy techniques. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how a comprehensive pathology analysis of a single specimen may be reliably achieved using integrated microscopy techniques. Integrated microscopy techniques consisting of high-resolution gross digital photography followed by micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scanning, low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy (LVSEM), and microground histology with special stains were applied to the same specimen. Integrated microscopy techniques were applied to eight human specimens. Micro-CT evaluation was beneficial for pinpointing the location and position of the device within the tissue, and for identifying any areas of interest or structural flaws that required additional examination. Usage of LVSEM was reliable in analyzing surface topography and cell type without destroying the integrity of the specimen. Following LVSEM, the specimen remained suitable for embedding in plastic and sectioning for light microscopy, using the positional data gathered from the micro-CT to intersect areas of interest in the slide. Finally, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and methylene blue staining was deployed on the slides with high-resolution results. The integration of multiple techniques on a single specimen maximized the usage of the limited number of available specimens from the clinical trial setting. Additionally, this integrated microscopic evaluation approach was found to have the added benefit of providing greater assurance of the derived conclusions because it was possible to cross-validate the results from multiple tests on the same specimen.
一种可植入式左心房压力（LAP）监测系统的安全性和有效性正在临床试验环境中进行评估。由于来自该临床试验用于组织病理学分析的可用标本数量有限，依靠综合显微镜技术来最大限度地利用每个可用标本是有益的。本研究的目的是证明如何使用综合显微镜技术可靠地实现对单个标本的全面病理学分析。将由高分辨率大体数字摄影、随后的微计算机断层扫描（micro-CT）、低真空扫描电子显微镜（LVSEM）以及特殊染色的微磨组织学组成的综合显微镜技术应用于同一标本。综合显微镜技术应用于八个人类标本。Micro-CT评估有助于精确确定设备在组织内的位置和方位，并识别任何需要进一步检查的感兴趣区域或结构缺陷。LVSEM的使用在分析表面形貌和细胞类型方面是可靠的，且不会破坏标本的完整性。在进行LVSEM之后，利用从micro-CT收集的位置数据与载玻片上的感兴趣区域相交，该标本仍适合嵌入塑料中并切片用于光学显微镜检查。最后，对载玻片进行苏木精和伊红（H&E）染色以及亚甲蓝染色，结果具有高分辨率。在单个标本上整合多种技术最大限度地利用了来自临床试验环境的有限数量的可用标本。此外，这种综合显微镜评估方法还具有额外的好处，即由于可以对同一标本上的多个测试结果进行交叉验证，从而为所得出的结论提供了更大的保证。
