Controlled dehydration of a biological sample using an alternative form of environmental SEM

In this study a non-conductive biological sample is observed free of charging artefacts when placed on a cooled Peltier stage in the specimen chamber of an alternative form of the environmental scanning electron microscope, equipped with a specially designed hydration system. This system was used to create dynamically changing surrounding conditions leading to controlled dehydration of the sample enabling us to visualize the topographical structure of a rat tongue in the transition region between the liquid and the gas state of water in the microscope specimen chamber.