BCS’ SPC Workflow fits seamlessly into your lab’s existing IHC Workflow. Figure 3. below shows the five steps of the Calibration Workflow: Spot, Stain, Scan, Analyze, and Assess. Each step is described below.
Figure 3. Metric SPC Workflow
SPC Workflow Step 1: Spot
Select the correct lHControl for your SPC workflow. Apply one spot of the control to each tissue
slide. You can do this in one of two ways:
- Spot the control on batches of blank slides. BCS recommends that you take this approach
and then store the spotted slides in the refrigerator until needed. You then add sample
tissue to the slide prior to staining. - Spot the control on a slide that is already populated with a tissue sample.
Watch the short videos below to learn how to apply IHControls to blank slides or tissue slides.
SPC Workflow Step 2: Stain
Your IHC lab should stain the slide containing the IHControl spot and the patient tissue sample using the identical processes used for staining patient tissue samples.
SPC Workflow Step 3: Scan
Once the slide has been stained following the identical processes used within your IHC lab for staining patient tissue samples, you next need to acquire an image of the stained IHControl bead and upload the image to Metric. Chapter 4 of the Metric Version 2.0 User’s Guide provides instructions on how to do this.
SPC Workflow Step 4: Analyze
Once you have uploaded the image of the IHControl bead to Metric, the IHCalculations software automatically analyzes the image and quantifies the stain intensity of the image and then produces a Metric SPC Report that includes a daily Levey-Jennings graph and related statistics.
SPC Workflow Step 5: Assess
A Levey-Jennings graph tracks QC results over time against an expected mean and acceptable error limits. A control result is expected to vary slightly from day to day, above and below a mean.