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Rotation cryotomy: Medical and scientific value of a new serial sectioning procedure
Author(s) -
Kathrein Anton,
Klestil Thomas,
Birbamer Guenther,
Buchberger Wolfgang,
Rabl Walter,
Kuenzel Karlheinz
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
clinical anatomy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1098-2353
pISSN - 0897-3806
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2353(1996)9:4<227::aid-ca2>3.0.co;2-b
Subject(s) - medicine , cadaver , block (permutation group theory) , rotation (mathematics) , plane (geometry) , biomedical engineering , cross section (physics) , anatomy , nuclear medicine , computer science , artificial intelligence , physics , mathematics , geometry , quantum mechanics
Preparation of thin serial sections for comparative macromorphologic investigations has always represented a grave technical problem, especially in the case of regions in which bone as well as soft tissue are to be documented within their natural relations to each other in any desired sectional plane. Non‐decalcified specimens up to the size of a whole cadaver are embedded in physiologic medium, precisely positioned, and deep‐frozen to a specimen‐ice block. A newly developed device, working on the basis of blades rotating at high speed, allows quick, successive removal of sections from the surface of the specimen block, with a thickness of each section infinitely variable between 0.1 and 5 mm. Following each cut, the new surface of the block can be documented photographically or on videotape for macromorphologic evaluation. So far more than 1,000 human, animal, and botanical specimens have been sectioned and evaluated with this method. In none of the cases were specimens damaged. Furthermore, any desired sectional plane could be adjusted; consequently a definite correlation between these sections and previous sonography, magnetic resonance (MR), or computed tomography (CT) images could be established. As serial cryosectioning becomes available to a far wider circle of medical and natural scientists, high‐quality results should be obtained at lower costs. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.