Record keeping is crucial in the IHC laboratory. Not only does this ensure compliance with regulatory agency purposes, clean and organized record keeping will also ensure a well managed IHC program.
Record keeping is important when:
- Performing antibody dilution panels for stain optimization
- Validating antibodies that were previously optimized
- Documenting lot-to-lot validations of new antibodies and detection kit reagents
- Validating new control blocks/material
- Documenting successful staining runs, as well as troubleshooting steps for those that were not successful.
- Keeping track of the procedures performed for use as a reference.
If an automated IHC stainer is in use, many records can be extracted directly from the unit. However, if the records are related to procedure(s), it is best practice to have the formal procedure available outside of the instrument's data base.