The use of molecular techniques to inform diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment design will play an important role in the future of medicine. Each new test, however, represents a new cost to the health care system, and significant effort is required to move new techniques to the clinical setting in the most cost-effective and efficient manner. Consequently, there is a compelling need for technological improvements that will facilitate clinical application of novel assays, by reducing cost and complexity in implementation. This is particularly important in cancer pathology. Here, we present a novel applicator technology that enables staining of individual biopsies in a tissue microarray (TMA) to provide low-cost, multiplexed biomarker testing at the level of intact tissue. The applicator is designed to deliver tens of nanoliters of aqueous reagent to arrayed tissue biopsies kept under a layer of oil-based Liquid Coverslip without contacting the biopsies. A pin consisting of concentric stainless steel electrodes separated by a hydrophobic insulator provides a balance between hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity to hold a reagent droplet on the tip of the pin, whereas a small electrical current passed through the droplet spanning the electrodes is used for drop sensing. This design is more amenable to repeatable manufacturing than a previous prototype, which in initial testing demonstrated successful immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization staining of individual biopsies in a TMA, but was difficult to produce. This new design was tested to investigate the factors affecting its operation, in terms of the volume of reagent picked up and its ability to successfully deliver reagent to the biopsies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.