Semi Automatic Microtome Article - Study Science Articles

	1888 Articles Home \| Study Articles \| Science Articles	Science RSS
Semi Automatic Microtome

A Microtome is sectioning equipment used to cut very thin sections of material for microscopic examination. The material can be plant/animal tissue or plastic, wood etc. This article is about semi automatic microtomes used in histopathology studies.

Author: Abhinav Chaudhary

Article Tools:

In a Semi Automatic Microtome, the section thickness required can be conveniently adjusted and generally varies between 0.25-100 microns. A microtome has a fixed knife/disposable blade, firmly held at the base and a moving specimen feed holder. The rotary motion of the handwheel is converted into vertical up-down motion of the specimen feed which gets sliced into thin sections on coming into contact with the sharp edge of the stationary blade during the downward stroke.

Section thickness depends on the forward advance of the specimen feed relative to the blade. More the advance, thicker the sections. This forward advance of the specimen feed is controlled through a stepper motor in a semi automatic microtome. A microprocessor controller can precisely control this advance and the section thickness gets displayed on the LCD screen. Fast Forward and Fast Backward buttons are provided to adjust the specimen feed with respect to the blade prior to the commencement of sectioning. Also, the angle of knife blade can be adjusted for fine tuning the section thickness.

A retracting mechanism is provided in which the specimen moves backward, with respect to the knife, during the return stroke. This is to prevent damage to both the knife and the specimen.

The Anti-roll plate prevents curling/ rolling of the cut sections and therefore produces high quality sections that require minimum handling. A finger protection guard is a standard feature in a microtome. It is basically a cover that guards the sharp knife edge. The user flips down the guard only during the actual sectioning.

Another important feature in a Semi- Automatic Microtome is the limit indicator, either LED or sound based, for protecting the knife from the specimen feed holder. They alert the user when the specimen holder reaches too close to the knife. Also, Microtomes generally have a heavy base to provide for vibration free operation. A section waste tray around the cutting platform stores the wastes during sectioning.

© 2011 Medimeas Instruments

About Author

Abhinav Chaudhary is Business Promotion Manager at Medimeas Instruments.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-abhinav-chaudhary-42484.html