A comparison between microwave-assisted and conventional methods in processing histological sections

Rapid processing of histological sections is considered helpful to make decision in critically ill patients. Conventional processing takes about 24 hours. New automated processors have been reduced this time to 8 – 12 hours. Using microwave methods in fixation and tissue preparation have shortened the processing time to 30 minutes-6 hours. In this study we investigated the possibility of using kitchen microwave ovens in tissue processing as a cheap، and valuable source of energy. We processed 52 samples from 26 different animal tissues. One set of samples was processed using conventional method and the other one was processed using the microwave method. The sections were then assessed by three expert pathologists in a blind setting. In 93/58 percent of sections processed by conventional method and 84/61 percent of sections made by microwave method، samples were considered suitably identifiable. In our study participating pathologists could not differentiate between the two methods in 97/43 percent of the cases and only in two pair (2/56 %) of sections the method was correctly differentiated. our study showed that microwave technology reduces the processing time in tissue sections without any negative effects on their quality in comparison with conventional method. Furthermore، our study revealed that kitchen microwave oven can be used as an alternative of automated microwave machines.