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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Mar 26.
Published in final edited form as: J Vis Exp. 2021 Mar 26;(169):10.3791/62045. doi: 10.3791/62045

Figure 2: Schematic of embedded tissue block, specimen pin, and final preparation.

Figure 2:

(A) Tissue should be placed in a known orientation at the very tip of the resin mold and the upper third of the mold filled with carbon black saturated resin. The region of the mold furthest from the tissue should remain clear so that the experiment label can be clearly seen. (B) Specimen pin surface should be scratched to produce a grid pattern, this allows for a greater area of contact for the cyanoacrylate glue to harden between the prepared specimen block and pin. (C) The carbon black saturated resin should make a wide area of contact with the specimen pin head, however the region that is cut by the diamond knife should be no greater than 1×1 mm. It is good practice to taper the block towards the tip. This minimizes cutting forces on the diamond knife and by having a wider base, the block is more resistant to separating from the pin during sectioning.