Hi, I'm looking for a pen/marker to write on the smooth, transparent (non-frosted) part of microscopy slides which does not get washed away by alcohols and most importantly Roti-Histol. I want to mark something on the slide after my sections (paraffin-sections) have been dried, and need the ink to stay on during the subsequent deparaffination/rehydration/staining and mounting steps. For deparaffination and clearing before mounting I use Roti-Histol, the used stains are water based.
My initial idea was just using a pencil, but obviously that does not work on the non-frosted part of the slide...besides that I already tried the edding 780 paint marker, which is supposedly alcohol-resistant, but it doesn't seem to be resistant to Roti-Histol.
Another one I found, but haven't tried yet, is this one: https://shop.leicabiosystems.com/us/histology-consumables/cassettes/pid-marking-pens
According to the website it should be resistant to xylene and xylene-substitutes, so it should also be resistant to Roti-Histol...I'm just scared it's another bad buy like the edding 780...
Have any of you encountered this problem yet or have experience with the leica marker or others? Are there any pencils that work on smooth glass that are water, alcohol and Roti-Histol resistant?
Thank you for taking the time to read through all this!
Best regards,
Lukas
Hi,
I would suggest using a diamond pencil, like this one:
https://www.cellpath.com/diamond-pencil-wooden-handle-mea-0301-00a.html
Hy,
a pencil (lead-pencil or graphite-pencil).
In german it is calles Bleistift.
Very simpel, very effective.
After embedding your slides you can overwrite it with a lab-marker.
KInd regards
Stefan
I have a pen called Tungscribe. It is a "pen" that has a retractable tunsgten carbide tip. I use it to mark glass slides (and also to aid in separating sections that are spaced too close together to use a pap pen).
They're pricey (about $40 USD) but no ink, so they don't ever "dry out".
https://www.henryschein.com/us-en/Search.aspx?searchkeyWord=Tungscribe
FisherSci distributes a similar item ("Glascribe") for EMS (list $43) and BelArt (list $65).
Thank you all for the answers, I appreaciate it!
In the meantime I also contacted the customer support of Leica to ask if their marker is Roti-Histol resistant. They were not 100% sure and just sent me a pack of markers as a sample so I could try it out myself.
I tested it on both a "naked" slide and one I coated with protein glycerol (for better adhesion of tissue), and the ink stayed on even after about 30 minutes in Roti-Histol. I could even wipe over it with a tissue. For now I'll stick to that marker, I hope it keeps doing the job :)
But still, I'm grateful for your suggestions! A diamond pencil (or something like the Tungscribe...I think they work in a similar way, right?) would be a fall back option should I encounter any issues with the Leica marker in the future. Thanks Lucia Minoli and Melissa Bemrose for those tips!
As for the pencil, thanks for that suggestion as well, Stefan Jean-Pierre Haas . I thought about this at first, too, since I use it to initially label the slides (and the graphene seems to "survive" all the solvents, including the Roti-Histol) but unfortunately that works only on the frosted part of the slide. However, I want to mark something on the smooth part, right next to my sections.
Lukas Kürner - Thank you for sharing your testing results with the Leica marker! I might have to add one of those to my arsenal of marking pens.
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