FIRM Imaging of Human Kidney Glomerulus

Human kidney glomerulus
Fixation: 2% glutaraldehyde
Embedding: LR White Resin
Staining: Proprietary (Provisional Patent Pending)
Microscope: Zeiss Axioscope with 150x glycerine immersion objective
James W. Mandell, M.D., Ph.D. Dept. Pathology, Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908 mandell@virginia.edu
Description of Fluorophore-Infiltrated Resin Microscopy (FIRM): Using only an standard widefield fluorescence microscope, this novel microscopic staining method provides images with contrast and resolution resembling that of low-magnification TEM. The method combines a widely used EM embedding resin with a proprietary microscopic contrast agent and applies it to standard thin and semi-thin cut tissue sections. When illuminated with a widefield fluorescence microscope, samples prepared in this manner appear bright where tissue is absent, with the sample appearing in a wide range of darker shades.