Frozen Slicing Technology

In histology, sectioning refers to the service of cleanly and consistently cutting paraffin embedded or frozen tissue into a thin slice. These thin slices are referred to as sections and are then mounted to a slide. Frozen sectioning is the procedure of cutting thin sections of frozen tissue and is conducted in a cryostat. Cutting frozen sections is a technique that allows for the rapid diagnosis of unfixed frozen tissue. A thin slice of tissue is cut from a frozen biospecimen and then stained typically with hematoxylin and eosin. While frozen sections are physically less stable than paraffin, they are especially superior in the preservation of antigenicity and lipid retention.