Ordinary people are naturally not that enamored of the idea of observing feces smears but the world of science certainly has no problems acknowledging the importance of fecal smear tests. If you have been asked to research and experiment on feces smears, you’ll first need to update your knowledge just a bit about feces and have a brightfield microscope with you.
Basic Things about Fecal Smear Tests
Fecal smear tests are also known as stool smear tests. It is generally used to observe and analyze fecal samples of both humans and animals to determine symptoms of suspected gastrointestinal diseases.
Collection techniques vary among children, adults, and animals. For adults, they only need to place a plastic wrap or bag within the toilet bowl then securing it either with tape or by keeping the edges in place with the toilet seat. Once the patient has defecated, the sample should be transferred immediately to a clean container. If you are not doing this within medical facilities and without any professional to help you out, you can purchase a fecal smear kit to get a hold of special tissues and containers for this process.
As for babies and toddlers still using diapers, just make sure to similarly cover or line your child’s diaper in plastic. It is very important that you do not allow urine to mix in with the fecal sample. If you cannot time it properly, you can just adjust the position of the plastic wrap so that urine will still go directly to the diaper while stool will go directly to the plastic. Again, transfer immediately to a clean container.
It could be hard to obtain fecal samples even from trained pets so it’s best to have a veterinarian personally take care of this procedure.
Regardless of whether it’s human or animal feces, make sure that the sample you submit to the laboratory for testing does not contain foreign particles like urine or tissue. Collection of feces will not cause you any discomfort but it could be somewhat daunting if you are not prepared to actually handling stool. There are also no risks for taking this exam.
A tiny amount will be taken from the fecal sample and transferred to the slide. Once it’s secured, the researcher will use brightfield microscopy to observe the sample and look for any indications of gastrointestinal infections. In most cases, this is used to determine why an individual or animal is suffering from chronic or recurring cases of diarrhea. Data gathered from microscopic observation may then be used to determine the best course of action or treatment. Other concurrent or subsequent tests may also be taken to yield more data about the case.
Detecting White Blood Cells or WBC’s in Feces Smears
Stool tests for white cells are a special type of fecal smear test. It is performed when a researcher wishes to detect the presence of white blood cells in fecal samples to further understand the gastrointestinal problem the patient is suffering from. A leukocyte stain is used to make white blood cells discernible in a bright background.
In most cases, 1 gram of sample is necessary for proper observation and this must be kept in a special container. The sample must also be stored in room temperature. This test may yield inaccurate or incorrect results if you have not acquired a sufficient amount to serve as sample or if the sample hasn’t been submitted to laboratory testing immediately or stored and labeled improperly.
Using a Brightfield Microscope to Detect WBC’s in Feces Smears
A brightfield microscope may be easy to set up and operate but it’s one you can use in numerous applications. One of it is, of course, for observing fecal smears. Brightfield illumination usually comes hand in hand with compound microscopes but other types of microscope may also offer this kind of illumination.
The greatest magnification you can get from a brightfield microscope is 1000x. You can use accessories, however, to improve resulting images but in the case of observing fecal samples, no accessories are drastically needed. For more information about brightfield microscopes, http://www.brightfield-microscope.com may be of help.
Make sure you’ve placed the fecal sample properly on the slide before locking it on the microscope stage. Adjust from low to high power until you obtain ideal magnification.
When marked WBC’s in feces smears appear, these usually indicate possibilities of certain infections and diseases like shigellosis and ulcerative colitis. If you have stained the sample correctly and yet there is a remarkable absence of WBC’s, this could mean that the patient is suffering from a certain sort of viral or bacterial infection or giardiasis. Lastly, if a small to moderate amount of WBC’s surface, this could mean that the patient is suffering from the early stages of a gastrointestinal disease.