We’ve all had that piece of tissue that is too big to fit into a standard cassette, demanding careful dissection to preserve margins or essential diagnostic material. Or once dissected, the tissue uses four cassettes, resulting in four blocks to cut and four slides to stain – consuming additional tech time. 

However, consider this: there exists a solution – a technique known as large format processing with PathFlow Supa Mega.

In simple terms, it is processing larger pieces of tissue using the same instruments as standard tissue processing. The main difference is the use of larger cassettes, base molds, slides, and coverslips with minimal adjustments needed for other aspects.

The goal? To reveal more tissue and information on each slide, having a positive impact on patient diagnosis. 

What labs can use PathFlow Supa Mega? 

Clinical Labs: Are you in a clinical lab that often processes breast, bone, kidney, liver, lung, prostate, skin, or thyroid specimens? Instead of cutting and staining multiple blocks for a single tissue specimen, PathFlow Supa Mega could be a timesaver for you.  

Urology Labs: Suppose you are in a urology lab and spend time lining up prostate cores across multiple cassettes. Imagine how convenient it would be to fit all of those cores into just one PathFlow Supa Mega cassette.  By doing this you could cut the number of blocks in half and gain the ability to view many more cores on a single slide. 

Veterinary Labs: As a tech in a vet lab studying vocal cords or jaws, wouldn’t you love to see as much relevant information as possible on a single slide? PathFlow Supa Mega can make this happen. 

What products do I need to get started? 
Everything is just a little larger! Pathflow Supa Mega cassettes are almost three times the size of a standard cassette and can fit that much more tissue. Because of larger cassettes and larger tissue sections, PathFlow Supa Mega base molds and slides will also be needed. For cutting, attaching a clamp to your microtome makes the process seamless. The best part? You can use your same equipment and instruments without any major changes. 

Why should my lab use large format processing? 

• Improved patient care: large format processing enables you to see a tumor profile in large sections, eliminating the mental jigsaw of piecing together cases from multiple slides. This can lead to more accurate diagnoses and better patient outcomes. 
  
• Compatibility: Simply adding a clamp to the microtome is sufficient for large format processing. 
  
• Time and cost savings: Large format processing eliminates the need for further dissection to fit into standard-size cassettes. It also reduces the number of blocks to cut and slides to stain, streamlining your workflow and eliminating additional costs. 
  

PathFlow Supa Mega offers efficiency and convenience, enhances your workflow and allows you to focus on what matters most – accurate analysis and diagnosis.