Quantitative and qualitative analysis of staining colour among 4 commercially available Papanicolaou stain

Abstract

Many cytology laboratories use Papanicolaou dyes from commercial sources for their samples. The staining protocol differs slightly among laboratories. As a result, the staining color tone usually differs among laboratories. For the purpose to standardized Papanicolaou staining tone, this study introduces the “Lab Color specification” to the evaluation of cytological samples. This method was formerly used in the textile industry to analyze fabric colors. The results are expressed as Lab and the subjective difference is detected objectively as numerical differences.