Microwave-Assisted Processing of Biological Samples for Scanning Electron Microscopy

Microwave (MW)-assisted processing of biological (biol) samples for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been actively studied, beginning with the pioneering work by (1974 ). The benefits of rapid MW-assisted processing, with reduction in chemical volumes, and hence wastes, are beginning to be widely accepted (Leong, 1994 ). The author’s laboratory has played a role in the development of MW-assisted techniques for TEM, since the mid-1990s (Giberson and Demaree, 1995 ; Demaree, Giberson, and Smith, 1995 ; Giberson, Demaree, and Nordhausen, 1997 ; Giberson and Demaree, 1999 ), and now utilizes MW-assisted biol-tissue processing for TEM, on a routine basis, for research, as well as for graduate and undergraduate class projects. Recently, this research was extended to include MW-assisted preparations of biol tissues for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (Fox and Demaree, 1999 ). These also are now routinely incorporated into research and class projects.