Scanning electron microscopy as a new tool for diagnostics in pathology

Tzipi Cohen-Hyams, Murray C. Killingsworth

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Pathologists generally examine micrometer-thin tissue slices by means of brightfield light microscopy (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) [1] in order to identify cellular changes and diagnose disease. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is generally believed to be non-contributory to ultrastructural studies of disease as early SEM studies were mainly used to image sample topography [2] rather than the cell interior. In this paper, we present an alternative to TEM with the new generation high-resolution SEMs (HRSEM) that not only have equivalent performance but exhibit new capabilities and applications that can be usefully employed for diagnostic pathology and cell biology. HRSEM has important and crucial advantages over TEM. It is not limited by sample thickness (~ 100 nm thick) or by beam damage to delicate structures, such as cytoskeletal filaments. HRSEM allows manual and automated re-imaging as many times as needed with different electron signals. Additionally, the cost of HRSEM, its operation and its maintenance are considerably lower than for TEM. Current high-end HRSEMs have automated scan generation systems such as the new integrated system ATLAS 5 from Carl Zeiss, Germany [3] and Maps from ThermoFisher, USA [4]. Lastly, it is now possible to view both cell internal structure in STEM mode and external macromolecular structures in two and three dimensions, thereby enhancing depth information lacking in conventional microscopic studies.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1118-1119
Number of pages2
JournalMicroscopy and Microanalysis
Volume25
Issue numberSuppl. 2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

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