KENBIKYO Vol.49▶No.3 2014
â– Feature Articles: Frontiers of Serial Slice SEM in BioMedical Research

Automated Tape-Collecting System Ultra-Microtome (ATUM) for Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Biological Tissue

Hirohide Iwasaki

Department of Cellular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo

Abstract: Recently, technologies for three-dimensional reconstruction of biological samples have developed rapidly. Especially, various methods using scanning electron microscopy have emerged. ATUM (Automated Tape-Collecting system Ultra-Microtome) is one of these technologies and ultrathin sections are collected automatically by using ATUM. In this article, I will introduce the detail of ATUM and will describe how to use this equipment, including the application for light microscopy.

Key words: three-dimensional reconstruction, scanning electron microscopy, connectome, ATUM, Correlative Light and Electron Microscopy