Inside the TBG100: A 2-in-1 Printer for Mega Slides and Cassettes
Large format histology brings a few practical labeling issues that do not come up as often in routine tissue processing. When a lab works with larger specimens such as prostate or brain tissue, the goal is not only to keep more tissue together on one section. The information tied to that specimen also has to stay clear as it moves from cassette to slide.
In a normal histology workflow, cassette printing and slide printing usually happen at different stages, and often on different machines. With large format specimens, that separation can become more noticeable because the cassette and the final mega slide represent the same larger piece of tissue. Case information, orientation, and barcode data need to stay consistent throughout the process.
This is the type of workflow the TBG100 is designed for. It can print both mega cassettes and mega slides, so labs do not have to treat those two formats as completely separate labeling tasks.
Prostate whole mount histology is a good example. A larger section can show tumor location, multiple tumor foci, surrounding tissue, and surgical margins in one broader view. If the purpose of the large section is to preserve that anatomical context, then the labeling should also make it easy to keep the specimen identity connected from the cassette stage to the final slide.
For that reason, the main value of the TBG100 is not simply that it can print on larger cassettes and slides. It is that the same system can support both parts of the workflow and help keep the specimen information consistent. Barcode printing and LIS connectivity can also make that process easier to manage.
Large format histology is still a specialized workflow, and many labs may never need it. But for labs that regularly process large specimens, labeling becomes one of those small details that can have a much bigger effect on how easy the case is to track from start to finish.
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