ABSTRACT
Realizing that the polarization microscopic techniques are generally not well known, it was decided that some selected methods will be collected and described in detail. Two criteria were used in the selection: first, methods for polarization-microscopic investigations of constituents of the extracellular matrix were chosen and second, this short collection includes predominantly those techniques with which they have personal experience. Using paraffin embedding, the complete removal of paraffin before polarization microscopical analysis is essential because paraffin is strongly birefringent. Analyzing the imbibition curves obtained after measurements of retardation values under the polarization microscope, form and intrinsic birefringence of the structure can be distinguished. Intrinsic birefringence is related to the molecular organization of the structure, and cannot be extinguished by imbibing fluids of different refractive indices, because these fluids cannot penetrate intermolecular spaces. Intrinsic birefringence is a characteristic property of a structure.
