Environmentally safe parasitology fixative and stain
AssigneeAllegheny-Singer Research Institute
InventorMalcolm Slifkin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fixative-stain system, which gives superior preservation of nuclear detail, is free from toxic mercury compounds, and which is simple and easy to use, includes a zinc salt and a cobalt salt, in combination, as a fixative, and at least one of Chlorazol Black E, Fast Green FCF and May-Grunwald stains, and preferably the three in admixture, as a staining composition. The fixative may also be used alone. The present fixative-stain system is suitable for fixing and staining all types of parasites such as enteric and other parasites which infect animals and humans.
Claims14
A method of fixing and staining a specimen suspected to contain parasites, comprising:
- preparing a fixative composition by admixing at least one zinc salt and at least one cobalt salt in solution;
- mixing a specimen with an aliquot of said fixative composition;
- and
- adding to said specimen at least one dye selected from the group consisting of Chlorazol Black E, Fast Green FCF and May-Grunwald stain.
A method of fixing and staining a fecal specimen for microscopic viewing comprising:
- preparing a fixative composition by combining an aqueous solution of ethanol with zinc salicylate, a cobalt salt, acetic acid, glycerol, and polyvinyl alcohol;
- preparing a specimen mixture comprising fecal matter and a portion of said fixative composition;
- preparing a stain composition by combining in solution at least one solution selected from the group consisting of an aqueous solution of Chlorazol Black E Stain, an aqueous solution of Fast Green FCF and May-Grunwald stain;
- preparing a stained specimen mixture comprising an aliquot of said specimen mixture with an aliquot of said stain composition;
- and
- mounting an aliquot of the resulting admixture for examination.
A method for fixing a specimen suspected to contain parasites, comprising adding to said specimen at least one zinc salt and at least one cobalt salt, to fix said specimen.
A method for fixing a specimen suspected to contain parasites, comprising adding to said specimen an aqueous solution of zinc salicylate and adding to said specimen an aqueous solution of cobalt sulfate, to fix said specimen.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.