Applied Combine Wright and Dip Quick Staining Machine - เครื่องย้อมสเมียร์แบบจุ่มชนิดอัตโนมัติ

Abstract

            The complete blood count (CBC) analysis needs smearing of blood and standard Wright stain coupled with automate cell counter. The blood staining process is quite complicated including the addition of dye and buffer, followed by blowing to dry the slides. The procedure requires technical skills and time control to ensure good staining quality and avoid losing of dye. To improve the process, the authors had invented an automatic staining set using an expired electrophoresis machine to combine Wright stain and Dip Quick method. Sequential dipping was set at 1 second for Wright stain solution, followed by 1 second in clean water, 1 second Eosin solution, 1 second clean water, 1 second Methylene blue, and 2 times of 1 second tap water, and finally drying with hot blowing. Efficiency of the machine was tested by using 20 slides of blood smear comparing with the standard Wright stain method for a similar set of 20 slide. Performance scores and time use for each method were recorded and compared using mean, standard deviation and Pair t-test. Cost of the reagent for each method was also collected for the period of 6 months. It was found that the average time required for the applied combine Wright and Dip Quick staining method
was significantly lower than that of the standard staining method (Mean = 6.20 ± 0.01 minutes, compared to 18.57 ± 0.85 minutes) (p<0.05); and the dying performance was better (with the Mean score of =4.47 ± 0.42, compared to 3.91 ± 0.51). The 6-month cost was also found to be significantly lower (0.41 ± 0.31 bath vs. 1.18 ± 0.14). Thus, the applied combine Wright and Dip Quick staining machine should be promoted for routine hematological analysis giving the shorter working time, simpler procedure, consistent quality and lower cost. Furthermore, it could be used by unskilled personnel. The limitation of the machine included the need for resetting after electric blackout and weekly maintenance of dye solution.

Key words: blood smear, Wright stain, complete blood count