Emulsion Removal

You may find it necessary to remove the emulsion layer from a slide if it's damaged by exposure to white light before it's processed, or if after processing it gives inconclusive or high?background results. Emulsion removal is difficult and may damage the underlying specimen, so it's generally used only when the specimens am sufficiently valuable to salvage for another exposure.

The methods of emulsion removal discussed here are suggestions only. They may not be successful with all kinds of specimens. So, try them first on material that can be sacrificed.

Removing the Emulsion before Processing.

Before processing, the dried unprocessed emulsion layer hasn't yet been hardened by photographic processing, so it's still reasonably soft and more easily removed than it is once it has hardened. To remove the emulsion:

· Place the emulsion?coated slides in a 600 C tap water bath for a few minutes (timing varies based on the thickness of the emulsion layer) to soften and swell the emulsion layer.

· Rinse the emulsion off by agitation in the water bath.
 
· Place the slides in room?temperature Kodak Fixer for 3 minutes to remove a residual stain.
 
· Wash the slides for 5 minutes in slow?running room?temperature water to remove all traces of the fixer.
 
· Dry the slides at room temperature.
 
· Before recoating the slides, examine the specimen carefully to make sure the emulsion has been removed.

Microautoradiography

8/24/94
40
 

Ralph Marcucio wrote:

Hi everyone-

Inadvertently (@#$*) someone in my lab opened a box of slides that were
being exposed to liquid emulsion (Kodak NTB-2).  The slides were completely
exposed and represent the end of a students summer research project.  Does
anyone know of a way to remove the emulsion and recoat?

Any help greatly appreciated,
Sincerely,

Ralph Marcucio, PhD
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
University of California at San Francisco
San Francisco, Ca 94143