Gaining Efficiencies with an Anti-Static Waste Tray on Histocore Rotary Microtomes

Each method started by filling the paraffin tray of the HistoCore AUTOCUT Automated Rotary Microtome with 7000, 4-micron sections. The tray was then emptied by first knocking it on the side of the waste bin 3 times to remove all loose paraffin. The timer was started when the remaining paraffin that was adhered to the tray was swept away with a brush and stopped when this process was completed. Each method: standard tray, standard tray with paper towel and antistatic tray, was duplicated 15 times. The mean data and statistical data is shown at right.

Results (mean):

• Standard tray: 16.07 seconds

• Standard with wet paper towels: 11.33 seconds

• Anti-Tray 4.8 seconds

From the observed results, a 70% reduction in total cleaning time from the standard tray was calculated. The time savings can be further demonstrated by the number of times a tray is cleaned each day. If, for example, 10 standard trays are cleaned 10 times in an 8-hour shift, the resulting time would be 1607 seconds, or 26.8 minutes per 8 hours. If the anti-static tray is used, the resulting cleaning time would be 8 minutes per 8 hours. This is a significant difference in time, freeing up 18.8 minutes every 8 hours, or 56.4 minutes during a 24 hour day. This results in a savings of nearly 1 hour of tray cleaning time every day.