Lecture 1

Question 0

What is the average size of a cell, and the size of a red blood cell?

Answer 0

Cells are ~15um

Red blood cells are 7um

Question 1

State the relationship between milli, micro and nanometres

Answer 1

Milli 10^-3
Micro 10^-6
Nano 10^-9

Question 2

State the meaning of the term tissue

Answer 2

An aggregation of specialised cells which perform a particular function

Question 3

State the meaning of the term organ

Answer 3

Aggregations of tissues constitute an organ

Question 4

Name the four types of tissue

Answer 4

Epithelial tissue
Connective tissue
Muscle tissue
Nervous tissue

Question 5

Explain the value of histology in diagnosis

Answer 5

Histology is the gold standard in diagnosis. Some diseases cannot be treated on without histological diagnosis; the diagnosis can inform the treatment

Question 6

Name 6 biopsy techniques

Answer 6

Smear
Curretage
Needle
Direct incision
Endoscopic
Transvascular

Question 7

What is smear biopsy used for?

Answer 7

Buccal cavity, cervix

Question 8

What is needle used for?

Answer 8

Brain, breast, live, kidney, muscle

Question 9

What is direct incision used for?

Answer 9

Skin, mouth, larynx

Question 10

What is endoscopic biopsy used for?

Answer 10

GI and respiratory tracts

Question 11

What is transvascular biopsy used for?

Answer 11

Heart, liver

Question 12

What is curretage used for

Answer 12

Endometrial lining of the uterus

Question 13

What does biopsy mean

Answer 13

Removal of a small piece of tissue from an organ or part of the body for microscopic examination

Question 14

Why do tissues need to be fixed? (Give examples of fixatives)

Answer 14

To prevent autolysis and putrefaction (glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde)

Question 15

What are shrinkage artefacts?

Answer 15

Shrinkage artefacts appear due to processing of tissue samples. They appear as gaps between tissues.

Question 16

What components of a cell are stained by periodic acid schiff and what colour is the stain?

Answer 16

Stains glycoproteins and carbohydrates and goblet cells magenta

Question 17

What components of the cell are stained by Haemotoxylin and what colour is the stain?

Answer 17

Acidic components stain purple/blue

E.g. Nucleus (DNA)

Question 18

What components of the cell are stained by Eosin

Answer 18

Stains basic components pink

E.g. Cytoplasmic proteins

Question 19

How does phase contrast microscopy work?

Answer 19

Cell components interfere with the phase of light, so this can be detected by differences in contrast on the image, allowing components to be identified.

Question 20

How does dark field microscopy work?

Answer 20

Creates an image from scattered light (reflected or diffracted)

Question 21

How does fluorescence microscopy work?

Answer 21

Fluorescent dyes/markers bind to specific cell components to make them identifiable on an image.

Question 22

How does confocal microscopy work?

Answer 22

Using fluorescent images, sections of a sample can be made non invasively to produce a 3D image.