As the gold standard of diagnosis, Histopathology uses many steps that include procedures for sample preparation, where paraffin wax embedding is the most crucial. Tissue samples are analyzed under a microscope after they are embedded in a medium. In histopathology, paraffin is considered a classic medium of choice and directly affects the quality and visibility of the tissue section and the final observation and interpretation of the pathology.

Paraffin wax, derived from petroleum, has a low melting point and is therefore an excellent medium for tissue embedding. The essence of paraffin tissue embedding is to displace water in the tissues with liquid paraffin that, due to its low viscosity, penetrates even the smallest interstices of the tissues. Once paraffin solidifies, it becomes firm, and holds the tissues in position, making it possible for the technician to section the tissue to desired thickness in an unbroken and a completely transparent state, and attaching them to microscope slides for subsequent analysis.

Essential Criteria of Paraffin for Tissue Embedding

For the routine operations of a histology laboratory, paraffin must fulfill certain criteria in order to avoid disruption of the entire process.

● Uniform melting point: The melting point of paraffin must not vary. If paraffin is being used in conjunction with tissues, the sectioning forceps must only be heated to the temperature of the blended paraffin. Excessive heating must be avoided. If the temperature becomes far in excess of the melting point of paraffin, local thermal damage will occur, affecting cell morphology, tissue integrity, and creating artifacts that will obstruct a pathological diagnosis.

● High purity with low impurities: Impurities in paraffin will cause holes, scratches and tissue shedding on sections.

● Controllable shrinkage rate: The volume change during solidification should be stable, to prevent tissue block cracking and separation between tissue and paraffin.

● Good infiltration performance: Low viscosity when molten, allowing full penetration into dense tissue structures and comprehensive tissue support.

Consequences of Using Inferior Paraffin

Inferior paraffin will cause negative effects throughout the paraffin histology workflow.

First, damage to tissue morphology. Poor stability of paraffin results in thermal damage causing cell shrinkage and abnormal nuclear morphology which may lead to the wrong diagnosis by the pathologist.

Second, an abundance of section defects. Paraffin with an incorrect hardness results in loss of sections and the formation of fragments which results in the inability to harvest complete serial thin sections and a subsequent diagnostic delay.

Third, failure of preservation of tissue blocks. Inferior paraffin dries blocks and breaks them during long-term preservation resulting in the loss of valuable tissue blocks.

Fourth, failure to preserve experimental repeatability. Different paraffin melting points result in unpredictable status of paraffin during each embedding cycle resulting in results that do not meet the SOP of the pathology laboratory.

Why Choose Huida Paraffin

Huida paraffin is designed for paraffin embedding of tissue in histopathology and is suitable for clinical pathology and histological research.

● Stable physical and chemical indicators: Precise control of the melting point and outstanding thermal stability lead to a controlled level of damage to the tissue that may be caused by heat, thereby preserving tissue structure and retaining the capability to embed tissue according to the standardized paraffin wax embedding process.

● Low impurity & low shrinkage formula: Refined and purified to have a low impurity content. Molten wax has good fluidity to fully infiltrate dense tissues. Upon solidification, stable shrinkage guarantees uniformity of the texture of embedding blocks, reducing cracking, section falling and improving section continuity.

● Authoritative quality endorsement: The products conform to the relevant industry standards for histopathology consumables. Each batch is supplied with quality inspection reports, which meets the ISO quality control of pathology labs applicable to clinical diagnosis, scientific research and long-term specimen archiving.

● Compatibility with mainstream equipment: It is fully compatible with the embedding machines generally available in the market. Stable melting performance makes the process easier and reduces the loss of samples due to manual error.

Extended Professional Knowledge

Paraffin embedding technology originated in the 19th century. It is the major method of tissue processing in most pathology labs. The essential requirements are outlined in the technical guidelines of the National Society for Histotechnology (NSH). The complete process involves fixation, dehydration, clearing, infiltration, embedding, sectioning, and staining. Each step is closely interrelated, and paraffin acts as the tissue sample carrier for microscopic observation.

Now for our final point, paraffin histology practice involves embedding samples in paraffin wax. As a basic collection method, embedding paraffin is necessary for the precision of a pathological diagnosis. The consistency of paraffin is critical to the preservation of tissue morphology. Reliable control of product quality assures that we provide stable supplies for embedding of tissue in histopathology, limits machine artifacts and safeguards the precision of pathological diagnosis.