A Hydrostatic Device for Tissue Dehydration

A simple device for mixing water and organic solvents can be easily constructed to dehydrate tissue for electron microscopy. the device utilizes hydrostatic leveling between a reservoir and a mixing chamber to produce a continuously increasing concentration of dehydrating solvent. the rate of dehydration may be regulated by geometry and/or outflow rate. A prototype model is described which compactly incorporates the solvent reservoirs and a tissue tray that can accommodate ten tissue specimens in stainless steel mesh baskets. the device can be fabricated cheaply and replaces manual dehydration.