Cytological and histological structures identification with the technique IBIL in elemental microanalysis

Ion beam induced luminescence (IBIL) is applied to the inspection of histol ogical and cytological specimens, dried and placed in vacuum. It is shown t o offer a way for a precise aiming of a proton microbeam on the sample for a subsequent traditional microanalysis. We used the nuclear microprobe of t he Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro and its IBIL facility to identify biostr uctures stained with some usual fluorescent dyes, capable of discriminating tissues and cells of different nature or different parts of a cell. To thi s purpose we produced low dose IBIL maps of the region of interest, employi ng a high sensitivity light detector. We describe the experimental set-up, propose a peculiar support for specimens, specify the properties of few wid espread used staining procedures and evaluate their IBIL emission. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.