BxBoard® FAQ

What are BxBoards?

BxBoards are an efficient, formalin-sparing replacement for formalin bottles that actually improve the integrity of tissues while allowing for unprecedented maintenance of tissue orientation. Core biopsies lay in site-specific lanes on top of a formalin-soaked sponge, significantly reducing the number of containers and labels. The board has a clear plastic lid that ensures formalin preservation and allows for visibility.

What specimen types can the BxBoard hold?

Lumea sells a 6-core BxBoard, ideal for small needle-core biopsies like prostate. It holds 18-20 gauge tissue cores. A typical 12-core prostate sampling would require two 6-lane BxBoards, instead of 12 jars/labels.

Are there BxBoards for other specimen types?

Our team is working on a 4-core BxBoard optimized for larger gauge breast core biopsies. The goal is to create better alternatives to bottles for as many specimen types as possible.

How does the BxBoard work with other Lumea technology?

The BxBoard can be used separately or in tandem with the Lumea BxCam® and BxChips®.

A surgery center or other procedure facility can choose to use a BxCam to take an image of the BxBoard without having to remove the board’s lid as an additional chain-of-custody step. BxBoards are also configured with RFID as an additional safety measure. 

The BxChip is an engineered tissue-mimetic array that safely holds up to 6 needle-core biopsies in a single cassette throughout tissue processing. It processes and cuts on the microtome just like tissue.

What are the benefits of BxBoards?

Patient Care and Efficiency Benefits

• Surgeons can easily see biopsies on the blue sponge, enabling them to validate the quality of the core right away.
• BxBoards maintain tissue orientation, and labs can maintain this orientation through the histological preparation process with the use of the BxChip. Reports can then display the actual distribution of cancer along the length of the core, distinguishing the capsule from deep tissue and helping guide treatment decisions. 
• Curling and fragmentation of tissue cores are dramatically reduced, since they are maintained flat and relatively straight in their narrow lanes, rather than free-floating in formalin jars.

Health and Safety Benefits

• When using a BxBoard, biopsy needles are wiped across a sponge rather than submerged in formalin, which may result in less of the chemical being introduced into the patient during multiple-biopsy procedures.
• Formalin doesn’t need to be dumped down a drain or filtered off during grossing, reducing chemical exposure and spills. BxBoards contain only 33 to 47% of the formalin contained in small specimen bottles.

Would you like to try out the BxBoard in your surgery center or procedure facility? Learn more on our detailed BxBoard page.

Sample diagnostic report showing how the BxBoard enables prostate cancer mapping