THICK BONE SECTION PREPARATION USING A SILICON-RUBBER-BASED SEALANT

A method has been developed, using a silicon-rubber-based sealant, whi ch allows 2-3-mm-thick specimens to be maintained in a protected fluid environment for a number of months, without risk of dehydration, Foll owing this, the specimen can be retrieved, stained, embedded and secti oned further, For example, 2-mm-thick sections of fixed unstained bone are easily examined by means of epi-illuminated polarized light and f luorescence microscopies using either conventional or confocal optics. The method could easily be extended to other tissues, for example bra in tissue.