Introduction Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) is the most widely used histological stain. It is simple to use, easy to automate and demonstrates different tissue structures clearly. Hematoxylin stains the cell nuclei blue-black, showing clear intranuclear detail, whilst eosin stains cell…
Introduction The physicochemical mechanisms of most histological stains are now understood. Detailed accounts and general overviews are to be found in the references and further reading at the end of this chapter. Histological staining methods from acid dyes to silver…
Introduction Resins are used to provide exceptionally strong support in tissue preparation for microscopy. Currently available resins include epoxy and acrylic formulations which can be used in standard histological techniques, but also may be useful in specialized techniques such as…
Introduction Microtomy is the means by which tissue is sectioned and attached to the surface of a glass slide for further microscopic examination. The basic principles are applicable to both paraffin and frozen sections although most microtomy is performed on…
Introduction Proper handling of tissue specimens is critical to ensure that an accurate diagnosis is obtained from patient tissue samples. Whilst technological advances have streamlined processing, the principle steps remain the same: fixation, dehydration, clearing and infiltration. Regardless of the…
Introduction The initial dissection and preparation of any specimen for histological/microscopic analysis involves more than simply the transcribed macroscopic description and sampling of the specimen. Whilst the dissection and laboratory area are often perceived as the two key elements of…
Acknowledgment We would like to thank all the previous contributors to this chapter for their scientific input and Dr Catherine Cannet for her review of the chapter for this edition and her updates. Introduction This chapter discusses the basics of…
Introduction This is an introduction to the theory of light microscopy. The subject is dealt with in more depth in the previous editions of this book and further information may be found in dedicated texts to the subject. The light…
Introduction Improper handling of hazardous chemicals can produce significant health and/or physical harm. For many years countries issued their own national regulatory standards to assure employees were informed of the hazards in the workplace. The regulations and descriptions of hazards…
Acknowledgments We would like to thank Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHSFT for their kind permission to adapt and use the risk severity and likelihood values from the Trust risk policy. We also wish to acknowledge Louise Dunk who contributed this chapter…