ABSTRACT

Immediately after removal of the biopsy specimen, the nerve is gently straightened, stretched, and placed on a silicone pad in a dissecting dish for 15 minutes with pins at each end. This step is important for reducing contraction artifact. Asbury and Connolly stretched and applied the nerve to a thin strip of an index card for one minute prior to immersing it in fixatives.1 Dyck and Lofgren suspended the biopsied nerve in the fixative with a tiny weight at one end.2