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UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Submitting Slides for Scanning

Submitting Slides for Scanning

  1. Submit only the material that is described in the request document. PSC cannot be responsible for extraneous slides. Also, note that PSC does not provide long-term storage for physical slides. Therefore, login to eSlide Manager or contact PSC within 48 hours of the request to check on scanning progress. Slides remaining in PSC for longer than one month may be discarded.
  2. Consolidate slides into the fewest containers that are necessary.
  3. Make sure all slides are clean size 25 x 75 mm with coverslips and labels placed properly (not overhanging the edge of the slide).
  4. Coverslips should be #1.5 (0.17 mm average thickness) and sized appropriately — coverslip should not overlap the label area of the slide. Choose the appropriate mounting medium (e.g., Cytoseal or Permount for bright field microscopy, ProLong Gold for fluorescence) and follow the manufacturer’s protocol completely.
  5. Ideally, slide labels should be machine-printed on laboratory-grade material (e.g., polyester) with indelible ink or toner. Never use paper labels! PSC uses laboratory-grade label material and printers. If labels must be hand-written, use a solvent-resistant marker (e.g., Secureline Marker II / Superfrost). PSC assumes no responsibility for interpreting or preserving hand-written labels. Do this at your own risk. Also, do not apply labels to the underside of the slides as this can interfere with scanning. Likewise, too many labels (e.g., 3-4) can make the slide incompatible with our scanners. NOTICE — PSC has several label printers, and we can print and apply slide labels (a charge might be added for this optional service). We have solvent-resistant labels for staining protocols, and we have special, removable labels for scanning purposes. In addition, we can include 2D – Data Matrix barcodes on the slide labels as long as the client provides a file (.xlsx or .csv) with the appropriate specimen information (e.g., animal ID, tissue block, section #, stain, etc.). This has the advantage of creating unique, informative file names for each image, and it will also populate the Barcode ID field in the eSlide Manager database. A Data Matrix symbol can store up to 2,335 alphanumeric characters.
  6. Confirm the date and time that the coverslips are mounted. We cannot place freshly mounted (wet) slides into the digital slide scanners, as this could damage the slide and/or the scanner. Mounting medium must be cured overnight before scanning.
  7. We strongly suggest that slide submitters include a negative (no primary antibody) control slide with any assay. It is especially important for fluorescent stains to distinguish between weakly positive target (signal) and tissue auto-fluorescence (noise), which coincides with the FITC and Cy3 channels (450-550 nm).
  8. Submit only the material that is described in your scanning request document. PSC is not responsible for extraneous slides and does not provide long-term storage for physical slides. Login to eSlide Manager (link https://lists.unc.edu/utilities/login/login/?DocPost=cc1b5cab17a669247a9c40fd9719cecf ) at least 48 hours after your request submission to check on scanning progress.