Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Fixation and Sectioning

Fixation and Sectioning

Two basic types of preparation are used to visualize specimens with a light microscope: wet mounts and fixed specimens.
The simplest type of preparation is the wet mount, in which the specimen is placed in a drop of liquid on the slide. A liquid specimen can be directly deposited on the slide using a dropper. Solid specimens, such as skin scraping, can be placed on the slide before adding a drop of liquid to prepare the wet mount. Sometimes the liquid is simply water, but stains are often added...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Harnessing Regulatory T Cells to Modulate Acute Brain Injury: From Mechanisms to Therapy.

Molecular neurobiology·2026

Same author

Functional Neuroimaging Biomarkers of Impaired Neurocognition After Proton Beam Radiotherapy for Brain Tumors in Pediatric Patients: A Prospective Trial.

Neuro-oncology·2026

Same author

Inter- and intraspecific variation in theropod dinosaur dental microwear and its palaeoecological implications.

Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007)·2026

Same author

Comparison of Patients Seen by an Embedded Social Worker and Nurse Practitioner Palliative Care Model in Hospital Medicine Versus Referral-Based Specialty Palliative Care and Their Acute Care Utilization Outcomes.

Journal of palliative medicine·2026

Same author

Preneurosurgical Care for Patients With Trigeminal Neuralgia.

JAMA network open·2026

Same author

Radiation immunodynamics: association of baseline and longitudinal cytokine levels during radiotherapy in glioblastoma with survival.

Journal of neuro-oncology·2026

Same journal

Optimisation of Xenium automated in situ sequencing for PAXgene-fixed tissue samples.

Journal of histotechnology·2026

Same journal

Unraveling myoepithelial cell plasticity in breast cancer: a transcriptomic approach.

Journal of histotechnology·2026

Same journal

USP34 modulates mitochondrial function in triple-negative breast cancer cells through the eIf3m/MTCH2 axis.

Journal of histotechnology·2026

Same journal

A look at scanner introduced variation in contrast, resolution, and colour across nine different models of whole slide imaging (WSI) scanner.

Journal of histotechnology·2026

Same journal

TissuStamp: a novel high-throughput tissue transfer workflow for FFPE spatial biology assays.

Journal of histotechnology·2026

Same journal

Application of an open-source AI tool for quantitative quality control in whole slide images of prostate needle core biopsies - a retrospective study.

Journal of histotechnology·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 27, 2025

Proteomic Sample Preparation from Formalin Fixed and Paraffin Embedded Tissue

Proteomic Sample Preparation from Formalin Fixed and Paraffin Embedded Tissue

Published on: September 2, 2013

Comparative study of two reprocessing methods for formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue.

Matthew Lunetta¹, Megan Grivois¹, Christopher Hansen¹

¹Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA.

Journal of Histotechnology

|April 13, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The Pat Dry (PD) and Serial Xylene (SX) methods both improve histologic quality of reprocessed tissue samples. PD is faster, easier, and uses fewer reagents than SX.

Keywords:

Tissue reprocessing formalin fixation hematoxylin and eosin histology histopathology paraffin sections quality improvement

More Related Videos

Expanding the Comprehension of the Tumor Microenvironment using Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Formalin-Fixed and Paraffin-Embedded Tissue Samples

Expanding the Comprehension of the Tumor Microenvironment using Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Formalin-Fixed and Paraffin-Embedded Tissue Samples

Published on: June 29, 2022

Protocol for HER2 FISH Using a Non-cross-linking, Formalin-free Tissue Fixative to Combine Advantages of Cryo-preservation and Formalin Fixation

Protocol for HER2 FISH Using a Non-cross-linking, Formalin-free Tissue Fixative to Combine Advantages of Cryo-preservation and Formalin Fixation

Published on: December 25, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 27, 2025

Proteomic Sample Preparation from Formalin Fixed and Paraffin Embedded Tissue

Proteomic Sample Preparation from Formalin Fixed and Paraffin Embedded Tissue

Published on: September 2, 2013

Expanding the Comprehension of the Tumor Microenvironment using Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Formalin-Fixed and Paraffin-Embedded Tissue Samples

Expanding the Comprehension of the Tumor Microenvironment using Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Formalin-Fixed and Paraffin-Embedded Tissue Samples

Published on: June 29, 2022

Protocol for HER2 FISH Using a Non-cross-linking, Formalin-free Tissue Fixative to Combine Advantages of Cryo-preservation and Formalin Fixation

Protocol for HER2 FISH Using a Non-cross-linking, Formalin-free Tissue Fixative to Combine Advantages of Cryo-preservation and Formalin Fixation

Published on: December 25, 2017

Area of Science:

Histopathology
Laboratory Medicine
Tissue Processing

Background:

Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues may require reprocessing for inadequate histologic quality.
Existing methods like Pat Dry (PD) and Serial Xylene (SX) are used for reprocessing under-processed samples.
No studies have directly compared PD and SX methods regarding histologic quality, cost, and time.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare the Pat Dry (PD) and Serial Xylene (SX) reprocessing methods.
To evaluate their impact on histologic quality, cost-effectiveness, and turnaround time.
To assess ease of use and reagent requirements.

Main Methods:

129 tissue samples from 40 clinical specimens were used, with thicker sections (10 mm) prepared to ensure poor initial processing.
Samples were divided into Control (3-5 mm), PD reprocessing, and SX reprocessing groups.
Histologic quality was subjectively evaluated by histotechnicians and objectively scored by pathology residents before and after reprocessing.

Main Results:

Both PD and SX methods significantly improved histologic quality scores and reduced rejected slides.
The PD method demonstrated a substantially shorter average preparation time (66 minutes) compared to SX (250 minutes).
PD was found to be easier to perform, required less reagent, and had a lower risk of spillage.

Conclusions:

The Pat Dry method is a more efficient and practical option for reprocessing under-processed tissue samples.
Both PD and SX are effective in improving tissue section quality, but PD offers significant advantages in time and usability.
These findings support the adoption of the PD method for routine histopathology reprocessing.