Microtomy Flashcards
What is facing
the act of trimming away excess wax from the front of the block
What is chilling
cooling the block prior to fine sectioning which allows the wax to harden and facilitate thin artifact free sections
What is sectioning
ribbons of paraffin are formed and then sections are transferred to the water bath and mounted on slides
What are levels
a section is produced and then the block is trimmed 60-100um and then a second section is selected
What are serial sections
sections are collected without any steps or levels, several sections are collected on one slide
What are routine sections
a single section collected and mounted on a slide
What are deepers/recuts
a pathologist may request additional slides from deeper in the block after seeing the initial slides
What causes curved sections
block edges aren’t parallel
dull blade
tissue density is not uniform
What causes chatter
vibration due to loose lever
excessive clearance angle
tissue too hard for sectioning
over-dehydration of tissue
dull blade
What causes holes in the section
facing too aggressively
hard particles in the tissue
What causes sections to split perpendicular to the blade
nick in the blade
calcifications
hard particles in the paraffin
What causes ribbons to fail to form
wax is too hard
debris on the edge of the blade
clearance angle is incorrect
What causes incomplete sections
block not correctly faced
incomplete paraffin infiltration
What causes sections to attach to the block on the return stroke
insufficient clearance angle
debris on blade
microtome retraction malfunction
static electricity
What causes sections to be excessively compressed
dull blade
paraffin too soft or warm
