Microscopy Flashcards
What is a tissue?
A collection of cells specialised to perform a particular function
What is the size of most human cells?
10-20 um
What is a biopsy?
It is the removal of a small piece of tissue from an organ or part of the body for microscopic examination
Which tissues is a transvacular biopsy used on?
Heart and liver
Which method of biopsy involves scrapping tissue with a special spoon?
Curretage biopsy
What are the 6 types of biopsy?
Smear, Curretage, Direct incision, Needle, Endoscopic, Transvacular
Which steps of tissue fixation cause shrinkage artefacts?
Rehydration and dehydration
What is the purpose of tissue fixation?
It allows tissues to be viewed under a slide
What are the two common fixatives?
Glutaraldehyde and formaldehyde
Haematoxylin stains what and what colour?
It stains the acidic components of the cell such as RNA and DNA purple
Eosin stains the basic components of the cell such as cytoplasmic proteins or extracellular fibres. What colour does it stain them?
It stains them pink
The periodic Acid-Schiff is a pink stain. What does it stain?
The carbohydrates and glycoproteins.
What is the advantage of using dark field microscopy?
You can use live and unstained samples. This is used for detection of syphilis.
What is the advantage of phase contrast microscopy?
It gives an enhanced image of unstained cells
What is the main advantage of confocal microscopy?
You can obtain a 3d image from a series of 2D images
