High-pressure freezing of tissue obtained by fine-needle biopsy

High-pressure freezing (HPF) permits adequate cryoimmobilization (without detectable ice crystals after freeze-substitution) of biological tissue up to a thickness of about 200 mu m. Until now the preparation of tissue prior to freezing has been unsatisfactory: sizing of the tissue to the required dimensions takes minutes, during which structural alterations must occur. We demonstrate that the use of a fine-needle biopsy technique minimizes tissue damage and guarantees sample dimensions close to the optimal thickness for HPF. The tissue cores can be cryoimmobilized within 40 s of excision.