A histology definition states that histology is a branch of anatomy that deals with the minute structure of animal and plant tissues as discernible with the microscope. It is also called microscopic anatomy, as opposed to gross anatomy, which involves structures that can be observed with the naked eye.
Histological studies are often carried out by examining a thin slice (called a “section”) of tissue under a light microscope or an electron microscope on a prepared slide. In order to distinguish different biological structures more easily and accurately, histological stains are often used to add colors to or enhance the colors of certain types of biological structures differently from other types of structures.
Histopathology, the microscopic study of diseased tissue, is an important tool in anatomical pathology, since accurate diagnosis of cancer and other diseases usually requires histopathological examination of samples. Trained physicians, frequently licensed clinical pathologists, are the personnel who perform histopathological examination and provide diagnostic information based on their observations. The trained personnel who prepare histological specimens for examination are histotechnicians, histology technicians (HT), histology technologists (HTL), medical scientists, medical laboratory technicians or biomedical scientists. Their field of study is called histotechnology.
Staining is employed because biological tissue has little inherent contrast in either the light or electron microscope. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E stain) is the most commonly used light microscopical stain in histology and histopathology. Hematoxylin, a basic dye, stains nuclei blue due to an affinity to nucleic acids in the cell nucleus; eosin, an acidic dye, stains the cytoplasm pink. Uranyl acetate and lead citrate are commonly used to impart contrast to tissue in the electron microscope.
There are many other staining techniques that have been used to selectively stain cells and cellular components.
The word “histology” is derived from two Greek words, histo=”tissue” and logos=”study.”
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 9 – July 1, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Reviewing an AP practice’s expenses is vitally important today when payers are cutting reimbursement. In the past, government and private payers paid more for the technical and professional components of anatomic pathology work, but those rates have eroded. While conversations about revenue tend to obscure the need to talk about expenses, effective financial
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXVI No. 5 – April 8, 2019 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Many anatomic pathology groups are watching their revenue decline and margins shrink on the same or greater case volume. These trends make it imperative to have a deeper understanding of the operational and financial variables that contribute to stability in the group’s finances and pathologist compensation. One expert on the financial complexity of anatomic
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 10 – July 9, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In Ireland, the big story in healthcare at the moment is the discovery that the nation’s cervical cancer screening program has failed hundreds of women who had pre-cancerous conditions or cervical cancer, but, as alleged in numerous court cases, their tests were inaccurate or the results not communicated to their physicians, or both.
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 7 – May 7, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: For medical directors and pathologists interested in improving their labs’ compliance with CLIA regulations, a report from federal and state inspectors of an inspection of the pathology lab at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center offers insights into what issues caught the inspectors’ attention. During their visit in February, the government lab inspectors
By maryv
CEO SUMMARY: In response to information the staff provided to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital’s risk manager last fall, and following a federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inspection in February, CMS describes deficiencies found as “an immediate jeopardy to the health and safety of patients” at the 885-bed hospital. THE DARK REPORT’s analysis shows
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 6 – April 16, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In response to information the pathology lab staff provided to the hospital’s risk manager last fall, and following a federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inspection in February, the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is taking corrective action to fix serious deficiencies in its anatomic pathology laboratory. In reports issued in February
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXV No. 3 – February 12, 2018 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Now that the FDA has cleared a digital pathology for use in primary diagnosis, interest in DP is building. Inspirata purchased Omnyx and its assets because the Omnyx Dynamyx digital pathology software has strong features that could be integrated into Inspirata’s digital pathology solution. In this interview with THE DARK REPORT, Inspirata CEO
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 17 – December 11, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Miraca Life Sciences amended its merger agreement with Avista Capital Partners after the lab lost value in the two months since the agreement was signed in September. Factors precipitating the revision were a significant decline in reimbursement rates, stiff competition from physician-office labs (POLs), and a loss of specimen volume to POLs and
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 17 – December 11, 2017 issue
1. CMS Sticks by Decision to Deeply Cut Medicare Part B Lab Test Fees
SHORT OF A MIRACLE, the clinical laboratory industry is less than three weeks from the single most financially-disruptive event of the past 30 years. On Jan. 1, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will impose deep cuts to Part B
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 10 – July 17, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: The FDA’s clearance of the first digital pathology system for use in primary diagnosis will be a disruptive force for pathologists in the coming years. At the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, pathologist Clive Taylor, MD, predicts that the benefits of whole slide imaging and digital pathology will enable pathologists
