Prof. Dr. İbrahim Öztek Pathology Laboratory is an advanced practical training facility equipped with modern medical devices and consumables, where students gain hands-on experience in all histological and cytological specimen preparation processes they are likely to encounter in their professional careers after graduating as pathology laboratory technicians.
What is the Prof. Dr. İbrahim ÖZTEK Pathology Laboratory? / What is Its Purpose?
Core Purpose: The primary purpose of the Prof. Dr. İbrahim Öztek Pathology Laboratory is to provide students in the Pathology Laboratory Techniques program with the medical and technical equipment necessary to prepare tissue and fluid samples obtained from the human body for microscopic examination. The laboratory aims to ensure that students graduate as fully equipped allied health professionals by reinforcing their theoretical knowledge through professional practical training sessions.
Key Features: The laboratory carries out, step by step, all technical processes involved in histological and cytological pathology specimens, from their collection from the body through to the microscopic diagnosis stage. As part of the integrated laboratory design, functional areas including a gross examination room, tissue embedding area, tissue sectioning area equipped with a microtome, staining area for histological and cytological staining, and microscopy room are located together.
Academic Contribution: Students directly experience critical clinical skills in pathology under the guidance of expert faculty members. The laboratory environment contributes to students' professional development by enabling them to learn professional standards such as equipment maintenance, calibration procedures, and patient and employee rights.
Devices and Technical Equipment Available in the Laboratory
Key Features: The Prof. Dr. İbrahim Öztek Pathology Laboratory is equipped with devices and consumables that comply with international medical laboratory standards to ensure that no stage of the tissue processing workflow is omitted. The laboratory equipment includes:
- Rotary Microtome: A device that enables highly precise ribbon sections, 3 to 5 microns thick, to be obtained from paraffin-embedded tissue blocks for microscopic examination.
- Paraffin Dispenser: A unit that provides a flow of liquid paraffin, facilitating the proper embedding and solidification of tissues within blocks.
- Manual Tissue Processing Set: A series of solution containers used to process tissues through dehydration, clearing, and paraffin infiltration stages.
- Laboratory Oven: A laboratory oven used for tissue drying, deparaffinization (removal of paraffin) before staining, and temperature stabilization.
- Centrifuge: A high-speed separation device used to sediment the cellular components of cytological specimens obtained from body fluids and prepare them for analysis.
- Microscope: An optical system used for the examination and quality control of prepared histological sections and cytological smears at the cellular level.
- Routine Staining Stations: A Routine Tissue Staining Set that enhances tissue visibility under the microscope and a Routine Cytology Staining Set that reveals cell morphology.
- Technical Consumables Infrastructure: Microtome blades, alcohol, xylene, paraffin, special and routine staining solutions, slides, coverslips, and gross examination materials.
- Refrigerator: A cooling unit that ensures the appropriate temperature-controlled storage of chemical stains, solutions, and biological specimens.
Research and Application Areas
In the laboratory environment, all operational steps that a pathology laboratory technician may perform throughout their professional career are taught through hands-on practice:
- Specimen Acceptance and Rejection Procedures: Evaluation of tissue and cytological specimens received by the laboratory according to medical acceptance criteria.
- Tissue Processing Protocols: Manual management of the sequence, duration, and chemical effects of the solutions used after specimen fixation.
- Precise Sectioning with a Microtome: Developing the technical skill required to obtain continuous and smooth sections 3–5 microns thick from embedded tissue blocks.
- Deparaffinization and Chemical Processing: Removing paraffin from sections placed on slides and hydrating them before proceeding to the staining stage.
- Preparation and Application of Staining Solutions: Preparing routine and special staining solutions for histological sections and cytological materials and applying them to tissues using the appropriate techniques.
- Decalcification (Calcium Removal): Preparing acid solutions and monitoring decalcification procedures to bring hard tissues such as bone to a consistency suitable for sectioning.
- Cytological Preparation: Selecting and applying appropriate techniques such as direct smearing, centrifugation, cytocentrifugation, or cell block preparation according to the nature of fluid specimens.
- Equipment Maintenance and Calibration: Practicing daily maintenance and cleaning of sensitive laboratory equipment and following calibration procedures to ensure accurate results.
Contributions to Students and the Healthcare Sector
- Micron-Level Manual Dexterity (Manipulation): Students develop the technical skill of obtaining 3–5 micron-thick sections without damaging the tissue by directly operating precision equipment such as a Rotary Microtome.
- End-to-End Laboratory Experience: By working at all stations from gross examination to microscopy, students gain comprehensive knowledge of the entire laboratory workflow a specimen undergoes before reaching the diagnostic stage.
- Professional Readiness and Confidence: Graduates who complete all staining, processing, and biosafety procedures under the guidance of expert faculty members acquire the technical competence to take on direct responsibilities in pathology laboratories of public and private hospitals, forensic medicine institutions, and research centers.
