Tissue Selection

  - Fixed tissue samples are selected and trimmed/dissected if needed and placed into printed cassettes for tissue processing.
  - Cell pellets are prepared for FFPE processing.
  - Bones are decalcified with a mild formic acid solution to remove calcium and improve section quality

Tissue Processing

  - The process of removing water from tissue samples and infiltrating them with a rigid substance is essential for high quality tissue sections.
  - Using our Leica ASP6025 Automated Vacuum Tissue Processor, tissue cassettes are processed through graded alcohols to remove water, cleared with toluene then infiltrated with molten paraffin wax.

Embedding

Microtomy

Haematoxylin and Eosin Staining

 - H&E is the most commonly used histological stain, haematoxylin stains the nuclei blue and eosin stains cytoplasm and connective tissue red/pink demonstrating good intra cellular detail for a huge range of cell types and structures.
 - Using our Leica ST5020 multistainer and automated coverslipper slides are dewaxed, stained and mounted with a glass coverslip for microscopic evaluation.