Staff and students from our Biomedical Science programme have been getting to grips with a new piece of state-of-the-art equipment, usually only seen in clinical laboratories.

Our Department of Life Sciences has recently taken delivery of an Immunohistochemistry stainer which enables scientists to identify malignant cells within human tissue. This type of stainer is used extensively within clinical laboratories to provide diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic information for the management of patients.

The Intellipath by Menarini Diagnostics, is the first of its kind in the UK to be used as a teaching tool by both staff and students and will allow our students to enter the workplace with valuable skills and knowledge.

In the simplest terms, the Intellipath takes advantage of the antigen-antibody interaction between cell surface biomarkers and antibodies raised to identify them. It uses the most sensitive detection method available which develops a coloured "chromogen" that is deposited at the site of this interaction. Hence, it is possible to demonstrate and visualise microscopically all cancer types in human tissue and so offer diagnostic advice to clinicians.

Undergraduate Biomedical Scientist student, Sarah Oliver is already making good use of its applications. She has been investigating the use of the standard chromogen, DAB, which produces a brown deposit at the site of interaction and comparing that with a new chromogen which produces a purple deposit. In some cancers, such as Malignant Melanoma, there can be excessive melanin pigment present which also appears, under the microscope, as a brown deposit leading to some confusion between the pigment and the chromogen used. This can mean that diagnoses are delayed because the Pathologist has to investigate further before reaching a firm decision. Her work has shown that the purple chromogen clearly differentiates between these two substances and allows a much quicker diagnosis to be made. This knowledge could translate straight into the working clinical laboratory and lead to a change in the gold standard process that is used at present, ultimately leading to a faster turn-around time for patient diagnosis.

The Intellipath will have further applications within the Department to improve cancer diagnosis and accurate treatment prescription as well as being used extensively for research. A number of collaborative projects are already planned on breast cancer, in collaboration with the Helen Rollason Laboratory, and on corneal cell lines in collaboration with VERU.

This acquisition heralds the start of a new era of preparing the students for practice within the clinical laboratory, furnishing them with skills, knowledge and experience much valued by managers within the health sector as well as increasing our potential for undertaking important research into human diseases.

Implementing this has not been an easy ride as there have been Human Tissue Act and Ethical implications but early indications are that all the effort has been more than worth it!