Medical Definition of Plastic section stain
1.
For electron microscopy, a stain (e.g., osmic acid, PTA, potassium permanganate) used on thin sections of plastic-embedded tissues, utilizing differential attachment of heavy atoms to various cellular and tissue structures so that electrons will be absorbed and scattered by these structures to produce an image; to achieve differential staining, the stain must penetrate nonwettable plastic embedments, for light microscopy, a stain (e.g., alkaline toluidine blue, silver methenamine) used on plastic-embedded tissues to attain higher resolution and more detail than normally possible; semi-thick (0.5-1.5 um) sections are particularly useful in renal pathology, especially in combination with the phase microscope.
(05 Mar 2000)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Plastic Section Stain
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