Dissection of colon and Tissue Collection (Fig. 1):
Once we receive the colon, the Cutter will place it on the Specimen Bench with the descending colon on the left and the ascending colon on the right.
a) This is done solely for consistency in taking pictures with how the images from our first colon were collected.
2. The Cutter will then wash the colon and begin flaying it open lengthwise.
3. Before the cutter begins dissecting tissue of interest- pathology attending and PA staff will look at colon and collect/take notes/dye areas of interest for clinical diagnosis/practice. Attending MD should give approval to begin research collection.
4. The Cutter chooses the tissues of interest and marks them with a numbered pin. Those tissues are then ressected from the colon.
a) Tissues of interest include Adenocarcinomas, Polyps, and Normal tissues.
i) Polyps and adenocarcinomas: Identified by the surgeons, pathologists, and the Cutter.
ii) Normal tissues: Characterized by the Cutter as regions of the colon epithelium lacking polyps and adenocarcinomas.
5. The SBM shows The Cutter which well to place the tissue of interest into, making sure that all samples stay in order and that none of the wells are used more than once. Also, if certain tissues need to be reserved for fresh tissue dissociations, the SBM will make sure these are placed into specific wells and passed off to wet lab personnel.
6. All push pins, storage tubes, and well plates will be labelled with the same numbers (e.g. 001-056, 101-156, 201-256). Resected tissues will be marked with the push pins and placed into the corresponding wells, then stored in their respective storage tubes.
7. Repeat steps 3-5 until all tissues have been properly accounted for and stored.
8. Once all the available tissues are collected, or it has been ~2 hours since the colon was received, pictures of the entire colon will be taken, preferably from a dead-on top angle with the camera kept at the same height for each frame.
9. The SBM will be sure to record times and sample info and direct Cutter to place samples into appropriate well plates.