Research in the So Lab

Vibratome for Multiphoton Microscopy

Investigator: Hyuk-Sang Kwon

This project is about making a working prototype of vibratome to fit our current high speed multifocal multiphoton microscopy (MMM) systems.

Vibratome is one of microtomes types with reciprocating knife action for sectioning fresh or lightly treated tissues down to 10 microns with precision of less than 5 micron. The horizontal vibrating blade cutting principle does not distort samples during sectioning. Sectioning may be carried out in a buffer bath which lubricates the blade, prevents heat buildup, facilitates retrieval of the sections and retains important elements of the tissue being studied. For fresh or fixed tissues; not for frozen or embedded tissues. Animal and plant tissues are sectioned without freezing or embedding, thus minimizing artifacts and loss of activity in preparation procedures.

There are known information using commercially available vibratome. First there are four independent variables: Forward speed, amplitude, blade angle, bath temperature.
The "rules of thumb" are
1. The softer the tissue, the slower the forward speed
2. The softer the tissue, the higher the amplitude
3. The softer the tissue, the steeper the blade angle.
4. The softer the tissue, the colder the bath
By "trial and error" you play with the above to determine the optimum setting to achieve good sectioning of a given tissue at a given section thickness.