SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF CRITICAL POINT DRIED HUMAN SPERMATOZOA

Abstract

This article reports results obtained by combining the Anderson critical point drying method for the specimen preparation of human spermatozoa with scanning electron microscopy. Previous methods of specimen preparation of mammalian spermatozoa have employed either air drying (Dott, 1969; Fujita, Miyoshi & Tokunaga, 1970; Yanagimachi & Noda, 1972) or freeze drying (Zaneveld, Gould, Humphreys & Williams, 1971). The principal advantage in the critical point method is its relative simplicity in drying fragile objects with-out subjecting them to gross effects of surface tension forces. Specimens dried by the critical point method appear to be preserved in their original three-dimensional state. The great depth of focus of scanning electron microscopy also permits direct observation of specimen surface structures in