4-HOUR PROCESSING OF CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC SPECIMENS FOR ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY USING MICROWAVE TECHNIQUE/

A protocol for routine 4-hour microwave tissue processing of clinical or other samples for electron microscopy was developed. Specimens are processed by using a temperature-restrictive probe that can be set to automatically cycle the magnetron to maintain any designated temperatu re restriction (temperature maximum). In addition, specimen processing during fixation is performed in 1.7-ml microcentrifuge tubes followed by subsequent processing in flow-through baskets. Quality control is made possible during each step through the addition of an RS232 port t o the microwave, allowing direct connection of the microwave oven to a ny personal computer. The software provided with the temperature probe enables the user to monitor time and temperature on a real-time basis . Tissue specimens, goat placenta, mouse liver, mouse kidney, and deer esophagus were processed by conventional and microwave techniques in this study. In all instances, the results for the microwave-processed samples were equal to or better than those achieved by routine process ing techniques.