title: Low-voltage backscattered electron imaging of non-coated biological samples in a low-vacuum environment using a variable-pressure scanning electron microscope with a YAG-detector.
abstract: A variable-pressure scanning electron microscope (VP-SEM) equipped with a high-sensitive backscattered electron (BSE) detector of the YAG type was applied to studies of biological tissue samples. The rat kidney and trachea were fixed, dehydrated in ethanol, critical point-dried and examined in the VP-SEM under a specimen chamber pressure of 1 to 150 Pa. The high-resolution surface images of the non-coated specimens were obtained in a low-vacuum (1-20 Pa) environment at an accelerating voltage of 5 kV, while the images at 10-20 kV contained information beneath the surface of the specimens. The observation in the VP-SEM equipped with YAG detector in a low-vacuum (1-20 Pa) environment at low (3-5 kV) accelerating voltages is useful for the three-dimensional analysis of the surface morphology of biological non-coated samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Niigata University School of Medicine, Japan. t-ushiki@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ushiki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashizume
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuboki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods*; D051381:Rats; D016707:Tissue Fixation; D014132:Trachea / Q000648:ultrastructure*