The Brendel/Vitron Tissue Slicer, by Vitron (Tuscon, AZ) is one of several tissue slicers intended to be used for generating tissue slices for culture. The slicer is designed so that cylindrical cores of tissue are placed into a slicer arm that extends down to a stage. The slicer arm is then manually moved over a circulating stainless steel blade that cuts a slice off the bottom portion of the tissue core at a set thickness, all within a buffer-filled slicing chamber. The thickness of the cut can be altered by a knob that adjusts the height of the circular blade relative to the stage that the core is pushed against. Once the core, and the plunger that pushes the core to the cutting stage, are in place the blade can be activated and the cutting is done manually. This is accomplished by sliding the slicer arm, containing the core, over the circulating blade which is driven by an adapted cordless screwdriver. Both the activation of the blade and the movement of the core over the blade are done by the operator. Once slices are cut, they fall below the circular blade into an internal chamber and the gas driven buffer flowing through it pushes the slices into a glass slice trap that has a dispensing tube for simplified retrieval. The slicer is robust and is made of Lucite, Polyethylene, Delrin, and Stainless Steel and can be chemically sterilized. The slicer design allows for control of buffer temperature, slice thickness, and aeration/gassing of the buffer.
We have used the Brendel/Vitron tissue slicer for liver slices. Once the settings have been adjusted, each core can be placed into the slicer arm, the cordless screwdriver activated, and the slices made at the operator’s discretion and speed. The slice trap can easily be opened to remove slices that have been collected. Once the proper knob setting has been identified, the slicer will reproduce the same slice characteristics when using the same tissue. The slicer is consistent and produces slices reliably, provided it is maintained properly. The User’s manual that comes with the instrument is helpful for assembly and disassembly when cleaning parts. The ease of disassembly makes the slicer easy to clean and simple to put back together.
The slicer is made of solid construction but is fairly bulky and difficult to move when fully assembled. Although the components are durable enough to withstand repeated chemical sterilization, the copious amounts of sterile water needed to flush out the chemicals can make it a messy procedure, and handling the unit while doing this must be done carefully so as not to introduce a contaminant. Since long term cultures need to be done asceptically, the slicer and its attachments must be placed into a biosafety hood. Given the height of the slicer and the size of the aperture through which the operator’s arms must reach, it can be very difficult to reach the controls, especially since both hands are required to operate the machine. The need for both hands also requires the operator to remain by the machine in order to generate slices. The knob used to adjust the blade height, and thus the thickness of the slices, has no graduations! This means that the slice thickness must first be determined, and then the knob cannot be changed without losing the setting and having to re-establish it. We have an older model and perhaps this feature has since been improved in newer models. In order for the slicer to work correctly and dispense the slices, a gas supply must be attached. This makes it more difficult for those who do not wish to aerate the buffer at all. The buffer being pushed through the lines gurgles and spits into the central chamber. One aspect that diminishes the utility of the instrument is that buoyant slices will have great difficulty leaving the central chamber of the slicer. After discussing this aspect with another Vitron/Brendel slicer user, it appears this is the case when making inherently buoyant lung slices from lungs that have been filled with agarose and gelled.
In summary I would recommend trying this slicer for labs that have had difficulty with other slicers. Problems that other slicers have may not be present in the Brendel/Vitron instrument. Assembly and disassembly are easy, but the instrument is ackward to use and requires constant attention and this may cause fatigue when slicing a high number of slices. The user’s manual seems dated and not thorough, using actual photos glued to the pages.
Holger P. Behrsing, Ph.D.
Toxicologist
Biosciences Division
SRI International
Menlo Park, CA