Preparation of a Tissue Model for Quantitative FT-IR Microspectroscopic Functional Group Imaging

There is much interest in the biological and pharmacological sciences in knowing the specific location, concentration, and chemical structure of biologically active molecules in tissue. Infrared spectroscopy can be a suitable method for addressing these considerations; it can give quantitative and qualitative information without destroying the sample. IR spectra of approximately 20-μm-thick slices of animal tissue, mounted on barium or calcium fluoride crystals, can be obtained in the transmittance mode. Also, 3–5-μm-thick tissue slices can be mounted on gold-coated glass slides, and IR spectra can be obtained in the reflection-absorption mode.