microtome

mi·cro·tome

M0278000 (mī′krə-tōm′)n. An instrument used to cut a specimen, as of organic tissue, into thin sections for microscopic examination.

microtome

(ˈmaɪkrəʊˌtəʊm) n (Biology) an instrument used for cutting thin sections, esp of biological material, for microscopical examination

mi•cro•tome

(ˈmaɪ krəˌtoʊm)

n. an instrument for cutting very thin sections of organic tissue for microscopic examination. [1855–60] mi`cro•tom′ic (-ˈtɒm ɪk) adj. mi•crot′o•mist, n. mi•crot′o•my, n.

Thesaurus

Noun

microtome - scientific instrument that cuts thin slices of something for microscopic examinationscientific instrument - an instrument used by scientists

Translations

microtomo

Microtome

enUK

microtome

[′mī·krə‚tōm] (engineering) An instrument for cutting thin sections of tissues or other materials for microscopical examination.

Microtome

an instrument for obtaining thin sections from pieces of organs and tissues that have been frozen or coated with paraffin or pyroxylin for examination under a microscope. The first microtome was built in the first half of the 19th century by the German biologist A. Oschatz, a co-worker of J. Purkyně.

There are two kinds of microtomes. In the first type, the object is fixed in a holder and is raised by means of a micrometer screw, and the microtome knife moves horizontally (sled microtome). In the second type, the object moves and the knife is fixed. To produce sections of unprepared tissues that are to be examined immediately (for example, during surgical operations when histological analysis is urgently required), a freezing microtome is used; in this case the piece of tissue is frozen in an aqueous or saline solution by means of liquid carbon dioxide. The thickness of the sections produced by a microtome from substances coated with paraffin is 1–2 microns (μ); for substances coated with pyroxylin, 10–12 μ; and for frozen substances, not more than 10 μ. A special version of the microtome, called an ultramicrotome, is used to produce very thin sections (down to 200 angstroms) for examination under an electron microscope.

REFERENCES

Romeis, B. Mikroskopicheskaia tekhnika. Moscow, 1954. (Translated from German.)
Borrmann, H. “Mikrotome in Wissenschaft und Forschung.” In Medizintechnik. Berlin, 1958. Pages 102–112.

S. IA. ZALKIND

microtome

[mi´kro-tōm] an instrument for making thin sections for microscopic study.freezing microtome one for cutting frozen tissues.rotary microtome one in which wheel action is translated into a back-and-forth movement of the specimen being sectioned.sliding microtome one in which the specimen being sectioned is made to slide on a track.

mi·cro·tome

(mī'krō-tōm), An instrument for making sections of biologic tissue for examination under the microscope.
See also: ultramicrotome. Synonym(s): histotome

microtome

A mechanical device used to section tissues embedded in a support matrix, such as paraffin for light microscopic, and resin for electron microscopic examination.

mi·cro·tome

(mī'krō-tōm) An instrument for making sections of biologic tissue for examination under the microscope.
Synonym(s): histotome.

microtome

An instrument for cutting very thin slices from a block of tissue set in wax, or frozen, for microscopic examination after mounting on a slide and staining.

microtome

an instrument used for cutting very thin sections for microscopic examination.

microtome

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microtome

mi•cro•tome

Microtome

microtome

Microtome

REFERENCES

microtome

microtome

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Words related to microtome

noun scientific instrument that cuts thin slices of something for microscopic examination

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