Compresstome™ Microtome
- * Doubles tissue slice viability.
- * Superior to cryostat for free-floating immunohistochemistry.
- * Sections tisses as small as mouse eye to as big as whole primate brain.
Compresstome™ is a new family of microtomes developed from our company's patented technique. By applying specimen embedding and minimum tissue compression, the Compresstome™ helps you cut much healthier slices with minimal effort and better image quality. Our microtome can slice tissues as small as sections of a mouse brain to as big as the whole primate brain.
The Zero "Z" Technology
It had been found that the "Z" axial vibration of the razor blade can damage neurons in a live brain slice. About ten years ago, the zero "Z" technology burst into the scene, allowing vibratory microtomes to control the mechanical stability within couple microns in the "Z" axis. While this solved the problem of blade z-axis vibration when it is not cutting, the relative z-axis vibration in actual cutting environment is overlooked.
The stabilization of the tissue sample itself is a very important contributing
factor to the "Z" axial variation. During slice sectioning, the
tissue wobbles sideways with the vibrating blade. This tissue wobbling creates
a large relative "Z" axial variation to the system. The mechanical
stability of the blade creates a rigid component that magnifies the "Z"
axial variation when the tissue wobbles. In the Compresstome™ microtomes,
both razor blade movement and tissue movement on the "Z" axial
are minimized.
The Compresstome™ technique has been tested and proven by many customers
in the past five years. Many labs are able to obtain superior quality brain
slices from cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, striatum, brain stem, spinal
cord and vomeronasal organ (VNO). The Compresstome™ also generates
superior quality lung slices for bronchial and vascular smooth muscle studies.
The Compresstome™ family
The Compresstome™ family includes five members; the VF-200,
VF-300,
VF-700 and VF-800.
The Compresstome™ VF-200 and VF-300 are designed for electrophysiology
experiments. The VF-200 is a semi-automatic microtome with manual slice
thickness adjustment through a micrometer. It is economical and very effective
for cutting small quantity of slices. The VF-300 is a fully automatic model.
It is useful for sectioning large quantity of tissue slices.
The VF-700 is designed for cutting fixed tissue slice for histology experiments.
The VF-700 is a delux model that allows you to eliminate all chatter marks
from slice surfaces, cutting mirror-like smooth slices.
The VF-800 is designed for sectioning whole primate brain and similar large specimens.
Testimonial on the Compresstome™
Jose F. Perez-Zoghbi, PhD, Assistant professor, Dept. Cell Physiology & Molecular Biophysics, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
We use the Compresstome VF-300 to prepare 'living' lung slices from rodents to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of the contraction of intrapulmonary airways and arterioles. We used a vibratory microtome from a different company during our previous studies with lung slices. However, we decide to change to use the Compresstome because we found this slicer produces a less apparent damage to the cells of the airways and arterioles as well as to the delicate alveolar parenchyma. Using the Compresstome we are able to obtain more reproducible and successful experiments.
To prepare lung slices, the lungs are pre-inflated with agarose and the pulmonary blood vessels are filled with gelatin. After solidification of the agarose and gelatin we use the Comprestome to prepare 130?m thick slices. We use confocal and phase contrast video microscopy to measure simultaneously the agonists-induced contraction of airways and arterioles and the changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration in their associated smooth muscle cells. Images and movies showing the response of airways and arterioles to agonist stimulation in lung slices are available in our web site (http://www.ttuhsc.edu/som/physiology/faculty/perez/home/perezlab.aspx).
(Image of a 130 micron rat lung slice showing an intrapulmonary airway
and an arteriole.)
"I was lucky to be the first one to try the VF200 made by Precisionary Instruments Inc. At first, I was skeptical, but the results were astonishing. I have been using a Vibroslice™ (Campden Instruments, Leicester , UK ) for over 13 years, and I would never get so many living cells in one field as with the VF-200. This is also true and especially impressive for tissue of older animals. The oldest rats we used were 31 days of age. The cell quality was very good and the field was very clean. The VF-200 has greatly improved our productivity. Many thanks to Precisionary Instruments Inc. for creating such a wonderful instrument, and for their significant contribution to the neuro-science field."
How It Works
The most unique feature of the CompresstomeTM microtome is the patented technique of tissue embedding and tissue compression. Biological specimen, live or fixed, is glued on the plunger of a specimen tube and embedded with low gel point agarose within the tube. The front end of the specimen tube is smaller to form a compression lip towards the agarose-specimen block. When agarose-specimen block is pushed forward by the plunger, it is compressed by the compression lip. The extruding specimen is sectioned by a sharp razor blade at the front end of the specimen tube. Much better slice quality is achieved when specimen is compressed. The Compresstome? family of microtmes overcome the specimen move/wobble problems and produce high quality slices with excellent viability, consistent slice thickness, flatness, smoothness and clean surfaces with sharp image.
Our Contribution to Research
Founded in 2004 by scientists, Precisionary Instruments Inc. is dedicated to promoting technology improvement in bio-medical researches. The company has developed a series of state-of-the-art compresstome™ microtomes to cut slices from fresh and fixed tissue for different research purposes. Please direction any questions about the company or inquiries of the products to info@precisionary.com.
