Science Cafe is held the first Wednesday of every month at McMullan's Irish Pub Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with trivia and the presentation starting promptly at 7 p.m.

Bring friends and family for informal public discussions with leading scientists on interesting topics. Grab some dinner while listening.

Alyx Weaver, Ph.D., a post-doctoral scholar in UNLV's Department of Otolaryngology, will be giving a talk titled, "Bridging the gap for frozen tissue pathology: How ultrasonic technology could be used to improve tissue quality and diagnostic accuracy." 

Abstract

Frozen tissue pathology is challenging because very thin slices must be obtained and imaged quickly. That means that traditional tissue freezing methods used in the laboratory are too time consuming, and the fastest method that prevents ice crystal formation is liquid nitrogen, which is expensive and poses hazards to health and safety. In order to properly freeze a tissue sample, ice crystal formation needs to be suppressed inside of cells and in extracellular spaces. These crystals can distort and fracture minute structures and impede the clinician from making an accurate diagnosis.

The challenge: How do we expose an entire tissue specimen (the inside and the outside) to cryoprotection so that results can be obtained immediately?

We would like to share the case for the use of ultrasonic technology for flash freezing tissue samples. Ultrasonic waves can reduce the size and improve the uniformity of ice crystals in tissues, and can even expedite the freezing process, giving this technology great potential for application in the future of tissue pathology.