Abstract
The liquid-based cytology (LBC) manual preparation is more complicated than conventional processing. Therefore, improvements to the manual cell-washing process for SurePathTM are required. We examined whether LBC preparation using an automated cell-washing centrifuge (MC480LBC) affects the number of cells on a slide. The function of MC480LBC was investigated using the following parameters: (A) number of cells at different CytoRich red solution volumes (1–3 mL), (B) number of cells at different relative centrifugal forces (600 and 800 g) and times (5 and 10 min), (C) number of cells at different cell concentrations in CytoRich red solution, (D) level of contamination, and (E) effect of the number of washing times on the number of cells. All slides were stained by the Papanicolaou method and cells in sediment were counted. The results showed that the volume of the CytoRich red solution did not affect the number of cells on the slide (p = 0.779). There was no significant difference in the number of cells regardless of relative centrifugal force and times (p = 0.863), nor did cell morphology show any changes, such as spindle-shaped or elongated cells. Furthermore, the cell concentration in the CytoRich red solution had no significant effect on cell count (low concentration: p = 0.826, high concentration: p = 0.779). No slides showed any contamination. However, when centrifugal cell washing was performed three times or more, the number of cells on a slide was clearly decreased in comparison with those after the first and second washings (p = 0.001). Our findings indicate that MC480LBC can facilitate cell washing in the manual SurePathTM method as long as the number of washing times follows the manufacturer’s instructions.
