Introduce
the DiATOME ultra sonic,
the oscillating diamond knife for room
temperature ultramicrotomy. It was
developed in collaboration with Dr Daniel
Studer, Lab. of Anatomy, University of
Berne. A piezo actuator produces an
oscillation of the knife at a desired
frequency and amplitude, parallel with
the cutting edge. A depression in the
foot of the knife allows the oscillation
parallel to the cutting edge. The
depression is rigid in the north/south direction
and guarantees stability in the cutting
direction.
The
new knife produces ultrathin sections almost
free of compression. The sections become
thinner at the same thickness setting:
since the volume of the section remains
the same, the increased length leads to a
decrease in thickness.
The
theoretical considerations and first results
of this invention were presented in the
Journal of Microscopy (Ref 13)
Results
with polymers using the oscillating knife
were shown at the M&M 2002 meeting in Quebec (Ref 14).
We
have tested the oscillating knife with the
following samples:
•
Biological samples in Epon, Araldite, EM
Bed, etc.
•
Biological samples in acrylic resins (Lowicryls,
LR White).
•
Rigid polymers such as PS, PMMA, ABS,
HIPS, modified PP, etc.
