Mounting Media - An Untouched Aspect

Introduction: Mounting a tissue specimen is essential for preserving the specimen during storage as well as for enhancing imaging quality during microscopy. Samples are mounted in a wide variety of media, with a corresponding range of properties, for examination under microscope in the biomedical sciences. The mounting medium holds the specimens in place between the cover slip and the slide. Objective: This review is an attempt to summarize on various types of mounting media and their uses in histopathology as less is discussed about mounting media in the literature. Material and methods: Data was obtained and analyzed from previously published literature and electronic database searches from PubMed and Google Scholar. Results: Mounting media for permanent slides can be categorized into water-based and organic solvent based mounting media. Different mounting media are used for electron microscopy, immunofluorescence slides and ground sections. Conclusion: There are many commercial and home-made mounting media available. Refractive index plays an important role in choosing a mountant. A mounting media should be chosen which suits the preservation of the required sections for future research.