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CONTROLLED COPY 

 Centre for Biological Engineering 

 

Standard Operating Procedure    

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOP194 

 

Title:  Use and maintenance of Leica RM2125 RTS rotary microtome.

 

 

Location: 

H27 

 

 

Version 001 

Effective Date: 24.05.2021 

Review 24.05.2023 

 

Written by: Sotiria Toumpaniari 

 

Reviewed by:  

Approved by: C.Kavanagh 

 

 

Page 1 of 11 

 

1. PURPOSE 

 

To describe the use and maintenance of the Leica RM2125 RTS rotary microtome that is located in the 

CL2 CBE laboratory H27. 

 

2. SCOPE 

 

This SOP applies to CBE personnel using the Leica RM2125 RTS rotary microtome for the sectioning 

of fixed soft tissues that have been embedded in wax or other hard polymers. The microtome is 

assigned to H27 which is used for histological processing and this system should not be transferred to 

another lab. Only authorised and trained personnel may use the microtome.  

 

3. RESPONSIBILITES 

3.1. Authorised laboratory staff shall: 

 

(i) 

Work in accordance with the instructions for operation and maintenance detailed in this SOP, 

Risk Assessment  and the operator manual.

 

 

(ii)  Carry out the routine inspection, cleaning, and maintenance of the equipment, as required. 

 

(iii)  Record any adverse events and alarms that indicate non-conformance or malfunction on the 

Maintenance Record and notify the Laboratory Manager/Responsible Person. 

 

3.2. The Responsible Person/Laboratory Manager shall: 

 

(i)  Ensure that authorised laboratory personnel are given suitable information, instruction, training 

and supervision in the correct use and maintenance of the equipment.   

 

(ii)  Investigate any reported problems, adverse event, alarms, or non-conformities associated with 

equipment usage. 

 

(iii)  Organise the maintenance, repair, or servicing of the equipment by trained and authorised 

contract / service personnel. 

 

4. EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS 

 

1.  Leica RM2125 RTS rotary microtome and accessories 

2.  Blades 

3.  Brush 

4.  Appropriate PPE (labcoat, gloves, overshoes and eye protection, where appropriate)  

 

Summary of Contents for RM2125RTS

Page 1: ...laboratory staff shall i Work in accordance with the instructions for operation and maintenance detailed in this SOP Risk Assessment and the operator manual ii Carry out the routine inspection cleani...

Page 2: ...the system The Leica RM2125 RTS is a manually operated rotary microtome for creating thin sections of specimens of varying hardness for use in routine and research laboratories in the fields of biolo...

Page 3: ...lly or vertically as required 6 To clamp the cassette release the lever Note Before clamping the cassette into the universal cassette clamp remove excess wax on the outside of the cassette to ensure t...

Page 4: ...the Allen screw to release the clamp by turning Allen key No 4 9 counterclockwise 4 When using the knife holder base with lateral movement rotate the lever on the right side of the knife holder base c...

Page 5: ...ies to the rocking mode during which the specimen is trimmed by rocking motion no complete rotation of the handwheel Carry out rocking mode ONLY in the sectioning phase NEVER in the retraction phase 5...

Page 6: ...clockwise see curved arrow means the specimen advances Turning the coarse feed wheel clockwise means the specimen retracts away from the knife 2 Red dot at 12 o clock turning the coarse feed wheel clo...

Page 7: ...has 3 click stops 0 m 10 m and 50 m The points 23 mark the two trimming stages 10 m 50 m 1 To activate the trimming function press the lever downwards into the desired position and keep it pressed do...

Page 8: ...cimen clamp and mount a new specimen 4 Run the object clamp with the coarse feed back far enough until the new specimen can start being cut 5 4 Cleaning and Maintenance 5 4 1 Cleaning Note Always remo...

Page 9: ...ing the parts from the drying chamber 65 C Wearing safety gloves is recommended 8 After cleaning the moving parts apply a thin coat of drive part oil to them 9 Reassembly takes place in reverse order...

Page 10: ...e holder N The clamping lever 89 on knife holder E Shaft 90 of the clamping lever of the cassette clamp see Fig 36 Special Safety Note Equipment contains sharp edges Ensure you are wearing PPE have be...

Page 11: ...pproved by C Kavanagh Page 11 of 11 6 DOCUMENTATION 6 1 Equipment Maintenance Log 6 2 Microtome Training Agreement This form can be found on the Loughborough University LEARN module for the Centre of...

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