Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Principles, Applications and Protocols of Microwave Technology for Morphological Analysis

  • Chapter
Book cover Analytical Morphology

Abstract

Since the introduction of microwave irradiation for morphologic diagnosis and research just over 20 years ago, the applications of microwaves have expanded considerably beyond their initial use as a safe, clean and rapid method of tissue fixation. Microwaves can now be employed for the fixation of large specimens, including brain, to accelerate the action of cross-linking fixatives, as well as to greatly reduce the various stages of tissue processing so that a paraffin-embedded block can be produced in about 30 min. Almost every histochemical stain can be greatly accelerated by microwaves, and immunohistochemical staining procedures can be completed in 20 min by employing microwaves. Cellular antigens are distinctly better preserved in tissues fixed by microwaves than by conventional cross-linking fixatives, and the cytomorphology of cryostat sections irradiated in Wolman’s solutions is vastly improved. Microwaves can similarly be employed in transmission and electron microscopy both for fixation and staining of ultrathin sections, and they have the potential to greatly accelerate the polymerization of resins. They also have applications in newer molecular techniques; they not only increase the speed of the procedures but also improve sensitivity. This wide range of applications makes microwave technology invaluable in the pathology laboratory.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Bernard, J.R. 1974. Microwave irradiation as a generator of heat for histological fixation. Stain Tech- nol. 49:215–224

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Boon, M.E., L.P. Kok and E. Ouwerkerk-Noordan. 1986. Microwave-stimulated diffusion for fast processing of tissue: reduced dehydrating, clearing and impregnating times. Histopathology 10:303- 309

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Boon, M.E., L.P. Kok, H.E. Moorlag, P.O. Gerrits and A.J.H. Suurmeijer. 1987. Microwave-stimulated staining of plastic-embedded bone marrow sections with the Romanowsky-Giemsa stain: improved staining patterns. Stain Technol. 62:257–264

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Boon, M.E. and L.P. Kok. 1988. Microwave Cookbook of Pathology. The Art of Microscopic Visualisation, 2nd ed., Coulomb Press, Leyden.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Boon, M.E., E. Marani, P.J.M. Adriolo, J.W. Steffelaar, G.T. Bots and L.P. Kok. 1988. Mirowave irradiation of human brain tissue: production of microscopic slides within one day. J. Clin. Pathol. 47:590–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Boon, M.E., L.P. Kok, H.E. Moorlag and A.J.H. Suurmeijer. 1989. Accelerated immunugold-silver staining of paraffin sections using microwave irradiation: factors influencing results. Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 97:137–143

    Google Scholar 

  7. Brinn, N.T. 1983. Rapid metallic histological staining using the microwave oven. J. Histotechnol. 6:125–129

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Chiu, K.Y. and K.W. Chin. 1987. Rapid immunofluorescence staining of human renal biopsy specimens using microwave irradiation. J. Clin. Pathol. 40:689–692

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Churukian, C.J. and E.A. Schenk. 1988. A Warthin-Starry method for spirochetes and bacteria using a microwave oven. J. Histotechnol. 77:149–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Clearly, S.F. 1978. Survey of microwave and radio frequency: biological effects and mechanisms. D.H.E.W. Publication (FDA) 78–8055:1–33

    Google Scholar 

  11. Coates, P.J., P.A. Hall, M.G. Butler and A.J. D’Ardenne. 1987. Rapid technique of DNA-DNA in situ hybridisation on formalin fixed tissue sections using microwave irradiation. J. Clin. Pathol. 40:865- 869

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Cuevas, E.C., A.C. Bateman, B.S. Wilkins, P.A. Johnson, J.H. Williams, A.H.F. Lee, D.B. Jones and D.H. Wright. 1994. Microwave antigen retrieval in immunocytochemistry: a study of 80 antibodies. J. Clin. Pathol. 1:448–452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Daymon, M.E. and A.S-Y. Leong. 1984. Microwave fixation for surgical and autopsy tissues. Pathology 16:418

    Google Scholar 

  14. Estrada, J.C., N.T. Brinn and E.H. Bossen. 1985. A rapid method of staining ultra-thin sections for surgical pathology TEM with the use of the microwave oven. Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 83:639–641

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Giammara, B.L., J. Pierce, A. Rustioni, M. Borowitz, D. Chandler, P. Yates and J. Hanker. 1985. Microwave acceleration of the metallization and intensification of cytochemical and immunocyto- chemical reaction products with silver methenamine, p. 704–705. Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Electron Microscopy Society of America.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Giammara, B.L. 1992. Microwave embedding methods. Scanning (Suppl. I) 74:60–61

    Google Scholar 

  17. Gown, A.M., N. de Wever and H. Battifora. 1993. Microwave-based antigenic unmasking. A revolutionary new technique for routine immunohistochemistry. Appl. Immunohistochem. 7:256–266

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hafiz, S., R.C. Spencer, M. Lee, H. Gooch and B.I. Duerden. 1985. Use of microwaves for acid and alcohol fast staining. J. Clin. Pathol. 38:1073–1076

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Hanker, J.S. and B.L. Giammara. 1992. Microwave-accelerated cytochemical stains for the electron microscopic examination and the image analysis of light microscopy diagnostic slides. Scanning (Suppl.II) 74:61–64

    Google Scholar 

  20. Haruna, N., T. Monden and H. Morimoto. 1990. Use of a rapid microwave fixation technique for im- munocytochemical demonstration of tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-la, and interleukin-lb in activated human peripheral mononuclear cells. Acta Histochem. Cytochem. 23:563–572

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Hjerpe, A., M.E. Boon and L.P. Kok. 1988. Microwave stimulation of an immunological reaction (CEA/anti-CEA) and its use in immunohistochemistry. Histochem. J. 20:388–396

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Hopwood, D., G. Coghill, J. Ramsay, G. Milne and M. Kerr. 1984. Microwave fixation. Its potential for routine techniques: Histochemistry, immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy. Histochem. J. 76:1171–1191

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Hopwood, D., G. Yeaman and G. Milne. 1988. Differentiating the effects of microwave and heat on tissue proteins and their cross linking by formaldehyde. Histochem. J 20:341–346

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Horobin, R.W. and M.E. Boon. 1988. Understanding microwave-stimulated Romanowsky-Giemsa staining of plastic embedded bone marrow. Histochem. J. 20:329–334

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Jackson, P., E.N. Lalani and J. Boutsen. 1988. Microwave stimulated immunogold-silver staining. Histochem. J. 20:353–358

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Kawasaki, Y., T. Monden, H. Morimoto, M. Murotani, Y. Miyoshi, T. Kobayashi, T. Shimano and T. Mori. 1992. Immunohistochemical study of p53 expression in microwave fixed, paraffin-embedded sections of colorectal carcinoma and adenoma. Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 97:244–249

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Kok, L.P., M.E. Boon and A.J.H. Suurmeijer. 1987. Major improvement in microscope-image quality of cryostat sections combining freezing and microwave-stimulated fixation. Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 88:620–623

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Kok, L.P. and M.E. Boon. 1990. Microwaves for microscopy. J. Microsc. 158:191–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kok, L.P. and M.E. Boon. 1995. Ultrarapid vacuum-microwave histoprocessing. Histochem. J. 27:411–419

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Lai, F.M., K.N. Lai, E.C. Chew and J.C.K. Lee. 1987. Microwave fixation in diagnostic renal pathology. Pathology 79:17–21

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Lan, H.Y., W. Mu, D.J. Nikolic-Paterson and R. Atkins. 1995. A novel, simple, reliable and sensitive method for multiple immunoenzyme staining; use of microwave oven heating to block antibody cross- reactivity and retrieve antigens. J. Histotech Cytochem 43:97–102

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Leong, A.S-Y. 1988. Applications of microwave irradiation in histopathology. Pathol. Annu. 2 213- 234

    Google Scholar 

  33. Leong, A.S-Y. 1991. Microwave fixation and rapid processing in a large throughput histopathology laboratory. Pathology 23:271–273

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Leong, A.S-Y. 1991. Microwave irradiation-applications in tissue fixation: processing and staining for light microscopy and electron microscopy, p. 47–60. In World Health Organisation Bi Regional Training Course on Electron Microscopy in Biomedical Research and Diagnosis of Human Diseases. University of Adelaide Press, Adelaide.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Leong, A.S-Y., M.E. Daymon and J. Miiios. 1985. Microwave irradiation as a form of fixation for light and electron microscopy. J. Pathol. 746:313–321

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Leong, A.S-Y. and J. Miiios. 1986. Rapid immunoperoxidase staining of lymphocyte antigens using microwave irradiation. J. Pathol. 748:183–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Leong, A.S-Y. and C.G. Duncis. 1986. A method of rapid fixation of large biopsy specimens using microwave irradiation. Pathology 78:222–225

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Leong, A.S-Y., J. Miiios and C.G. Duncis. 1988. Antigen preservation in microwave-irradiated tissues: a comparison with formaldehyde fixation. J. Pathol. 756:275–282

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Leong, A.S-Y. and P.N. Gilham. 1989. The effects of progressive formaldehyde fixation on the preservation of tissue antigens. Pathology 27:266–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Leong, A.S-Y. and P. Gilham. 1989. A new, rapid microwave-stimulated method of staining melanocytic lesions. Stain Technol. 64:81–87

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Leong, A.S-Y. and S. Pulbrook. 1989. Microwave-stimulated staining of reticulin fibres in plastic sections by an ammoniacal silver nitrate method. J. Histotechnol. 72:289–292

    Google Scholar 

  42. Leong, A.S-Y. and D.W. Gove. 1990. Microwave techniques for tissue fixation, processing and staining. EMSA Bull. 20:61–65

    Google Scholar 

  43. Leong, A.S-Y. and D.W. Gove. 1990. Applications of microwave irradiation in electron microscopy, cf Ref. 62. Proc. Int. Congr. Electron. Microsc. 72:140–141

    Google Scholar 

  44. Leong, A.S-Y. and J. Miiios. 1990. Accelerated immunohistochemical staining by microwaves. J. Pathol. 767:327–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Leong, A.S-Y. and J. Miiios. 1993. An assessment of the efficacy of the microwave antigen-retrieval procedure on a range of tissue antigens. Appl. Immunohistochem. 7:267–274

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Leong, A.J.-Y. and J. Miiios. 1993. A comparison of two antibodies to entrogen and progesterone from commercial sources and the effects of microwave antigen retrieval. Appl. Immunohistochem. 7:282–288

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Leong, S.S.-Y. 1994. Microwave technology for morphological analysis. Cell Vision 1:278–288

    Google Scholar 

  48. Login, G.R. 1978. Microwave fixation versus formalin fixation of surgical and autopsy tissue. Am. J. Med. Technol. 44:435–437

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Login, G.R. and A.M. Dvorak. 1985. Microwave energy fixation for electron microscopy. Am. J. Pathol. 720:230–243

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Login, G.R., W.B. Stavinoha and A.M. Dvorak. 1986. Ultrafast microwave energy fixation for electron microscopy. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 34:381–387

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Login, G.R., S J. Galli, E. Morgan, N. Arizono, L.B. Schwartz and A.M. Dvorak. 1987. Microwave fixation of rat mast cells. 1. Localization of granule chymase with an ultrastructural post-embedding immunogold technique. Lab. Invest. 57:592–599

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Login, G.R., B.K. Dwyer and A.M. Dvorak. 1990. Rapid primary microwave-osmium fixation. I.Preservation of structure for electron microscopy in seconds. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 38:755–762

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Login, G.R. and A.M. Dvorak. 1994. Methods of Microwave Fixation for Microscopy. A Review of Research and Clinical Applications: 1970–1992. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart

    Google Scholar 

  54. Loughman, N.T. 1989. Pneumocystis carinii: rapid diagnosis with a microwave oven. Acta Cytol. 53:416–417

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Marani, E., J.M. Guldemond, P.J.M. Adriolo, M.E. Boon and L.P. Kok. 1987. The microwave Rio- Hortega technique: A 24 hour method. Histochem. J. 79:658–664

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Marani, E., M.E. Boon, P.J.M. Adriolo, W.J. Rietveld and L.P. Kok. 1987. Microwave-cryostat technique for neuro-anatomical studies. J. Neurosci. Methods 22:97–101

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Maruyama, Y. 1981. Rapid tissue fixation by microwave irradiation Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 2:239- 241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Matthews, K. and J.K. Kelly. 1989. A microwave oven method for the combined alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff stain. J. Histotechnol. 12:295–303

    Google Scholar 

  59. Mayers, C.P. 1970. Histological fixation by microwave heating. J. Clin. Pathol. 23:273–275

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. McLay, A.L.C., J.D. Anderson and W. McMeekin. 1987. Microwave polymerisation of epoxy resin. Rapid processing technique in untrastructural pathology. J. Clin. Pathol. 40:350–352

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Merz, H., O. Richers, S. Schrimel, K. Orscheschek and A.C. Feller. 1993. Constant detection of surface and cytoplasmic immunoglobulin heavy and light chain expression in formalin-fixed and paraffin- embedded material. J. Pathol. 770:257–264

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Mizuhira, V. and H. Hasegawa. 1990. Opening images of synaptic vesicles and calcium localisation by means of microwave fixation method. Proc. Int. Congr. Electron Microsc. 72:182–183

    Google Scholar 

  63. Momose, H., P. Mehta and H. Battifora. 1993. Antigen retrieval by microwave irradiation in lead thiocyanate: A comparison with protease digestion retrieval. Appl. Immunohistochem. 7:77–82

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  64. Ni, C., T.C. Chang, S.S. Searl, E. Coughlin-Wilkinson and D.M. Albert. 1981. Rapid paraffin fixation for use in histological examination. Ophthalmology (Rochester) 88:1372–1376

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  65. Ohtani, H. 1991. Microwave-stimulated fixation for pre-embedding immunoelectron microscopy. Eur. J. Morphol. 29:64–67

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Patterson, M.K., Jr. and R. Bulard. 1980. Microwave fixation of cells in tissue culture. Stain Technol. 55:71–75

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Peracchia, C. and B.S. Mittler. 1972. New glutaraldehyde fixation procedures. J. Ultrastruct. Res. 39:57–64

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Petrere, J.A. and J.L. Schardein. 1977. Microwave fixation of foetal specimens. Stain Technol. 52:113–114

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Riches, D.J. and E.C. Chew. 1984. The use of microwaves for fixation in electron microscopy, p. 257- 260. In M.F. Chung (Ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd Asia-Pacific Conference on Electron Microscopy, Hentexco Trading Co., Hong Kong

    Google Scholar 

  70. Schaffner, R. 1986. The Perls’ iron staining procedure for use in the microwave oven using a temperature probe. J. Histotechnol. 9:107–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  71. Schneider, D.R., B.T. Felt and H. Goldman. 1982. On the use of microwave irradiation energy for brain tissue fixation. J. Neurochem. 38:749–752

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  72. Shi, S., M.E. Key and K.L. Kaira. 1991. Antigen retrieval in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues: an enhancement method for immunohistochemical staining based on microwave oven heating of tissue sections. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 39:741–748

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  73. Stavinoha, W.B., B. Pepelko and P.W. Smith. 1970. Microwave radiation to inactivate cholinesterase in the rat brain prior to analysis for acetylcholine. Pharmacologist 12:257

    Google Scholar 

  74. Stavinoha, W.B., J. Frazer and A.T. Modak. 1977. Microwave fixation for the study of acetyl choline metabolism, p. 167–179. In D.J. Jenden (Ed.), Cholinergic Mechanisms and Cycle Pharmacology. Plenum Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  75. Swischer, B.L. 1987. Modified Steiner procedure for microwave staining of spirochetes and non-filamentous bacteria. J. Histotechnol. 10:241–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  76. Taylor, C.R., S-R. Shi, B. Chaiwun, L. Young, S.A. Imam and R.J. Cote. 1994. Strategies for improving the immunohistochemical staining of various intranuclear prognostic markers in formalin fixed paraffin sections. Hum. Pathol. 25:263–270

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  77. van den Brink, W.J., H.J.M.A. Zijlmans, L.P. Kok, P. Bolhuis, H.H. Volkers, M.E. Boon and H.J. Houthoff. 1990. Microwave irradiation in labile-detection for diagnostic DNA-m situ hybridisation. Histochem. J. 22:327–334

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  78. van de Kant, H.J.G., M.E. Boon and D.G. de Rooij. 1988. Microwave-added technique to detect BrdU in S-phase cells using immunogold-silver staining and plastic-embedded sections. Histochem. J. 20:335–340

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  79. Volkers, H.H., W.J. van den Brink, R. Rook and F.M. van den Berg. 1992. Microwave label detection technique for DNA in situ hybridisation. Eur. J. Morphol. 29:59–62

    Google Scholar 

  80. Wannakrairot, P. and A.S-Y. Leong. 1989. Microwave stimulated immunogold-silver staining. Presented at the National Scientific Meeting of the Australian Institute of Laboratory Scientists, Adelaide

    Google Scholar 

  81. Yasuda, K., S. Yamashita, M. Shiozawa, S. Aiso and Y. Yasui. 1992. Application of ultrasound for tissue fixation: Combined use with microwave to enhance the effect of chemical fixation. Cytochemistry (Kyoto) 28:237–244

    Google Scholar 

  82. Zeikus, J.A. and H.C. Aldridge. 1975. Use of hot formaldehyde fixatives in processing parasitic nematodes for electron microscopy. Stain Technol. 50:219–223.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Tissue Pathology, Institute of Medical & Veterinary Science, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Anthony S-Y. Leong & F. Joel Leong

Authors
  1. Anthony S-Y. Leong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. Joel Leong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Leong, A.SY., Leong, F.J. (1996). Principles, Applications and Protocols of Microwave Technology for Morphological Analysis. In: Analytical Morphology. Birkhäuser, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4166-9_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4166-9_4

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8683-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-4166-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation