• Grossing

  Inspect the samples for fixation statues, trimming harvest tissue to the plain of interest.

• Tissue processing & embedding (regular and wholemount)

  Regular cassettes size is 30mm x 35mm.
  Supersize cassette for wholemount is 65mmX50mm.

• Re-embedding

  Melt down paraffin block and re-orient the tissue into the desire cutting plain.

• Cryo block sectioning

  Sectioning OCT frozen tissue blocks prepared by users.

• Regular tissue specimen Freezing

  User provide fresh harvested tissue to STTARR Pathology for snap freezing in OCT.

• Muscle Specimen Freezing

  Special snap freezing technique for muscle tissue prone to freeze artifact.

• Microtomy

  Sectioning paraffin and frozen section at routine 4um thickness or in special thickness requested by user.

• Paraffin Microtomy

  Regular slides: 25mmx75mm.
  Wholemount large slide:50mmx75mm.

• Serial sections

  Paraffin or frozen (per slide) consecutive sections from a ribbon of section mounted on slides labelled with numbers.

• Specific micro-structure/Precise sectioning

  Look for specific microscopic structures in paraffin/frozen blocks and take sections eg. Mouse aortic arch, aortic root, mouse embryo thyroid glands.

• IHC New Antibody Optimization

  Optimization of commercial and/or in house produced antibodies.

• Immunohistochemistry

  Check out our Pathology Optimized Antibody List for a list of antibodies currently available and optimized at STTARR Pathology. Please note that the list is continuously updated. If the antibody you are interested in is not on the list, please contact us.

• Multiplex IF staining

  Multiplex of up to 3 target proteins in cells/tissues using flourescent tagged antibodies.

• Tunel assay

  Detection of DNA fragmentation in last phase of apoptosis (cell death).

• In Situ Hybridization (RNAscope)

  Uitlizing ACDBio System probes and detection systems to detect target mRNA in paraffin embedded sections.

• Special Stains & Enzyme Histochemistry

  Masson trichrome, Elastic Trichrome, Picrosirius red,Periodic acid Schiff, Cresyl echt violet, Luxol fast blue, Gram stain, von Kossa calcium, Oil O red, Gordon & Sweets Siliver Reticular fiberstain, Safranin O, MOVAT, Prussian blue, Fontana Masson and fast green, TRAP(Tartaric Acid Resistant Phosphotase).
  STTARR Pathology has other histochemistry stain protocols that are available upon request, please inquire if the stain that you are interested is not on the list.

Principle and routine stain used in histopathology perform on paraffin or frozen sections.

• Autoradiography

  Sectioning thick sections (3--50microns) for autoradiography, 2 sets of slides each sample. Protocol on sample preparation for autoradiography available upon request.

• Cell pellet agar embedding

  Centrifuge cell pellet and double embed into agar gel and paraffin.

• Decalcification- acid

  Formic acid for rapid decalcification or EDTA for tissue to be used for IHC.

• Full necropsy (Mouse, Rat, guinea pig)

  Havest tissue for toxicology study or specific organ of interest.

• Tissue microarray construction

  Combining multiple donor tissue parrafin blocks into one for high throughput IHC staining.

• The Mediso NanoScan PET/MRI supports whole-body anatomic and physiological dynamic mouse and rat imaging at STTARR, including cardiac and respiratory gated PET and MRI
• PET specifications: 0.9 mm spatial resolution (with reconstructed voxel sizes of 0.3, 0.4 or 0.6 mm)
• MR specifications: 1 Tesla MRI, Gradient strength 450 mT/m, spatial resolution ≤ 100 µm with integrated gradient coil, RF and magnetic shielding

• The Wallac 1480 Wizard gamma-counter is an indispensible instrument for any pharmacokinetic or biodistribution experiment
• 4π counting geometry for optimum efficiency, i.e. a 3-inch NaI(Tl) crystal surrounded by 3 inches of lead shielding, thus impenetrable to background radiation and crosstalk
• Perfect for high energy (15 keV - 2 MeV), low activity samples
• The researcher can count up to 20 mL/sample and up to 1000 samples/run using a library of 51 radionuclides
• Counting racks can accommodate from 12×75 mm test tubes to 25 mm-diameter liquid scintillation vials
• 2048-channel multichannel analyzer capable of back-decay and spilldown corrections

This compact HPLC system not only has a UV-Vis detector, but also a NaI scintillation detector for characterizing and quantifying radioligands. It is sensitive enough to read low amounts of radioactivity over a wide range of energies and allows the delivery of up to 4 solvents allowing for maximum flexibility. Using the Laura software, the researcher can create and edit methods, set up sample runs, and view data collection in real time.

• The Mediso NanoScan SPECT/CT/PET trimodal system supports whole-body mouse and rat imaging at STTARR. Dual-isotope SPECT imaging as well as gated SPECT and PET acquisitions are possible
• SPECT parameters: spatial resolution varies depending on selected collimators, e.g. 1.1 mm (mouse - ultra-high sensitivity), 0.6 mm (mouse - ultra-high resolution) and 1 mm for rats
• PET parameters: 0.9 mm spatial resolution (reconstructed voxel options: 0.3, 0.4 or 0.6 mm)
• CT parameters: 10 µm minimum voxel size for a small field-of-view (e.g. mouse vertebra). Typically, a whole-body mouse CT takes less than 5 minutes for acquisition and reconstruction
• Its large single-bed-position field of view and high sensitivity allow simultaneous imaging of two mice, thereby reducing costs and maximizing the efficiency of radiotracer use. Using a "hotel" separator feature from imaging software, users can not only remove mouse bed layer but also input dose information of each mouse for quantification analysis.

Hidex Gamma counter is ideal for nuclear medicine and PET applications, with precise onboard balance, samples can automatically be weighed for preclinical biodistribution studies. It can count up to 230 samples that are 13mm in diameter and 72 samples at 28mm in diameter. It is a compact system with lead shielding to minimize interference as well as detects energies from 15-2000KeV.

• Mimicking clinical radiotherapy imaging and treatments, our Small Animal Radiation Therapy (SmART+) systems bring a highly sophisticated, expandable platform to the field of preclinical research. Together with easy-to-use software and an advanced set of imaging modalities, including Cone-Beam CT, µCT, and Bioluminescence (BLI), this state-of-the-art focal irradiation system is the perfect tool for image-guided radiation research.

• The Bruker SkyScan 1276 microCT system, located at UHN's Krembil Discovery Tower and operated by STTARR, supports whole-body anatomical imaging of mice and rats in vivo, as well as high resolution studies of small excised samples (e.g. mouse femur, tibia) and non-biological samples
• The SkyScan 1276 microCT has a maximum scan field of view that is 80 mm wide and more than 300 mm long. The highest nominal spatial resolution achievable is 2.8 µm pixel size for bone and tissue samples and approximately 10 µm for in vivo mouse studies
• Physiological monitoring for time-resolved CT imaging (e.g. cardiac and respiratory gating) is available

• Mediso nanoScan SPECT-CT-PET is a triple modality system which also supports whole-body anatomical imaging of mice and rats at STTARR. CT scans can be easily co-registered to corresponding SPECT or PET scans
• A 10 µm isotropic voxel size is the highest resolution possible for small (< 2 cm) field-of-view CT scans

• GE Revolution Gen 2 ES (large animals) Spectral (dual-energy) CT allows for soft tissue differentiation without the use of contrast agents. Because of its fluoroscopy capabilities, researchers can perform image-guided biopsies and other interventional procedures.

• By utilizing a range of RF and gradient coil inserts, it can accomodate animal models ranging in scale from ex vivo tissue samples and rodents, through to 5-7 kg animals
• The machine capabilities are model-dependent, but can range from MR microscopy tasks (i.e. 60-micron isotropic voxels, using optimized RF coils and prolonged scanning sessions) through to standard techniques at high resolution for the relevant anatomy (i.e. 100x100x500-micron voxels in time-efficient murine brain scans; 500x500x1500-micron voxels in primates)
• The STTARR-MRI can also accomodate multi-modal MR/CT/PET imaging in rodents utilizing the Minerve Small Animal Environment System

** The Bruker 7T MRI is now upgraded as of Spring 2023, to the NEO architecture running ParaVision 360, which will provide safer operation, higher throughput imaging, longer hardware lifetimes, and best-in-class fast imaging.

• Siemens' 1.5T Aera is an equivalent MRI system to one that might be found in a clinical radiology department, including a 70 cm bore diameter and a clinically-standard selection of RF coils and MRI pulse sequences
• At STTARR, it allows for comprehensive imaging in larger animal models, plus it will serve as a platform for development of MR-guided therapeutics, including MR-guided high intensity focused ultrasound
• STTARR also maintains a research standard level of system access to enable use of custom techniques

• STTARR provides MR-guided high intensity focused ultrasound for both the 7 Tesla Bruker Biospec and 1.5 Tesla Siemens Aera MRI systems
• The small animal MRgHIFU system for the Biospec includes two 25-mm diameter 8-element annular array transducers; a 1.5 MHz transducer suited for blood brain barrier disruption, and a 2.5 MHz transducer appropriate for hyperthermia or ablation applications. The large animal system includes a 145-mm diameter 256-element phased-array transducer operating at 1 MHz
• For both small animal and large animal platforms, MRgHIFU feedback control based on real-time MR thermometry can be implemented through Proteus software

• Xenogen bioluminescence imaging provides the ability to detect luciferase-expressing cells with a high degree of sensitivity, making it particularly useful in for lower numbers of cells, for which fluorescence imaging may not be sensitive enough to separate signal from background autofluorescence
• The quantitative or semi-quantitative nature of bioluminescence imaging also allows the tracking of the number of cells (or degree of luciferase expression) over time, with multiple injections of luciferin, lending itself well to applications such as monitoring of tumor burden over time

• The CRI Maestro system is best used with known fluorophores, or transgenic cells expressing a fluorescent protein, growing subcutaneously within the murine model

• Operates at frequency (20 to 40MHz) an order of magnitude above what is typically used in the clinic (1 to 5 MHz), which improves the resolution which is crucial for imaging small structures of a mouse
• Features include 2D and 3D imaging, non-linear contrast imaging, M-mode, colour Doppler as well as pulsed-wave and continuous-wave Doppler
• Transducers for mice and rat interrogation are the MS250 (13-24 MHz) and MS550D (22-55 MHz)
• Heated mouse platform for regulating temperature and ECG-gating
• Ultrasound-guided biopsy instrumentation
• Vevo LAB software for quantifying and characterizing disease progression with specific applications

• A multi-component system which integrates laser light delivery with ultrasound image acquisition to produce photoacoustic image data
• Uses a 20Hz tunable laser (680 - 970nm) to image functional hemodynamic and molecular data with a resolution down to 40 µm and a depth of 1 cm
• Transducers for mice and rat interrogation are the MZ250 (13-24 MHz) and MZ550 (32-55 MHz)