Maintenance of slide specimens

A slide specimen is a microscopic biological body or a tiny slice cut from a biological body, which is processed into a specimen and used for observation under a microscope.

According to the production method, slide specimens can be divided into two categories: sliced and non-slice. The non-slice type can be divided into several sub-categories. There are two types in the middle school teaching equipment catalog, namely loading and smear. Slicing is a glass slide specimen that uses a knife to cut the material into thin slices that can transmit light. The thickness is generally between 2 and 10 microns. Mounting is a slide specimen that encapsulates the entire tiny organism or organ. A smear is a specimen of a glass slide that is evenly smeared on a glass slide with liquid or loose and soft animal and plant tissues and then sealed.

The carrier of the slide specimen is a colorless and transparent cover glass and a slide glass. The standard glass slide is 76 mm long, 26 mm wide, and 1 to 1.2 mm thick. The standard cover glass has a side length of 18 mm and a thickness of 0.13 to 0.17 mm. The most important technical requirement for glass slides and coverslips is thickness, and glass slides that exceed the standard thickness will be difficult to observe under the microscope.

Although glass slide specimens are small, the manufacturing process is not simple. Generally, more than a dozen processes such as sampling, fixing, washing, dehydration, transparency, embedding, sectioning, patching, degreasing, rehydration, staining, and mounting are required.

All slide specimens must be stained, because after staining, the refractive index of each part of the specimen is different, which is convenient for observation under a microscope. The color on the slide will fade naturally and will accelerate under light. Therefore, the slide should be placed in the box immediately after use, and avoid direct sunlight. The slide specimens stained with acid fuchsin generally can retain the color for 3 to 4 years, and the slide specimens stained with hematoxylin can retain the color for 7 to 8 years.

The slide specimens are glass products, so they must be handled with care. When observing under the microscope, avoid the objective lens from damaging the slide specimens. Can not be stacked outside.

The final process of making slide specimens is edge sealing. The edge sealer is generally a mixture of paraffin wax and beeswax, and the melting point of paraffin wax is between 42 and 60 degrees Celsius. Once the edge banding agent fails, it will seriously affect the service life of the glass slide, because the failure of the edge banding agent will cause the failure of the mounting agent, and the failure of the mounting agent will not save the staining results. The glass slide specimen should be kept away from the heat source.