Fecalysis Microscope
A fecalysis microscope can actually just be any ordinary compound clinical microscope that may have custom designed features to make it more effective in analyzing stool or fecal samples. A fecalysis microscope is one of the most important tools used today in stool analysis and helps in identifying causes and symptoms of gastrointestinal infections.
What is a Fecalysis Microscope?
A fecalysis microscope is just like any other compound clinical microscope at first glance. It has the usual parts of microscopes such as objectives, eyepieces, and a stage. It may also possess two or three eyepiece holes. A trinocular fecalysis microscope is needed, however, if the user wishes to share and save images of the sample under observation.
There are, however, certain notable differences between clinical microscopes in general with other types of microscopes. Firstly, clinical microscopes, whether they’re used for fecalysis or other clinical applications, usually utilize more powerful objectives. Illumination used is usually more powerful as well.
Clinical microscopes may be custom designed to make it more suitable for a specific application. It may, for instance, have a 7-position nosepiece or three series of DIC prisms.
What is Fecalysis?
Fecalysis is also known as stool analysis. It refers to a series of laboratory tests done on fecal samples to analyze the condition of a person’s digestive tract in general. Among other things, a fecalysis is performed to check for the presence of any reducing substances such as white blood cells (WBCs), sugars, or bile and signs of poor absorption as well as screen for colon cancer.
To properly check for inadequate absorption, a fecal fat test may be required. This is a diagnostic procedure used to recognize problems with fat absorption. A quantitative fecal fat test is usually completed in three days and able to verify the amount of fat within a person’s body.
How Patients Prepare for Fecalysis
The accuracy of a fecalysis can be compromised if a patient has not been properly educated about what he can and can’t do before or during the test.
If he is taking any medications, these must be screened as some can affect test results. A patient is usually discouraged as well from taking aspirin, alcohol, vitamin C, ibuprofen and certain types of food if his fecal sample will be checked for any sign of blood. Recent travel and X-Ray tests can also affect the results of fecalysis.
Sample Collection Process for Fecalysis
It is up to the patient if he wishes to have fecal sample collected inside the doctor’s office and with professional assistance or do it at home by himself. If he chooses the latter, he will need a stool collection kit to obtain and preserve the sample properly.
The patient must urinate first to prevent any urine from mixing with his feces later on. He must also wear gloves when it’s time to handle stool and transfer it to a safer container. This will prevent any possibilities of being contaminated or infected by bacteria found within the stool. Solid and liquid fecal samples are both acceptable as long as they do not have urine or other foreign substances like soap, water, and toilet paper mixed in them.
If the patient is suffering from diarrhea, placing a plastic wrap and securing it under the toilet seat could facilitate the collection process.
Collected samples must be brought to the doctor’s office or laboratory as soon as possible. Delays could compromise the quality of the sample. Volume or amount is also important so the patient must be sure he has collected an adequate amount of stool.
Results of Stool Analysis with a Fecalysis Microscope
Results are normal if the fecalysis microscope shows that the sample does not contain any parasites, viruses, or bacteria as well as containing not more than 2mg per gram of sugar. Visual confirmation of the results should show that the patient’s stool is brown and well-formed. Tactile confirmation should show that it’s soft. Lastly, its pH level should be 6.
Results are abnormal if the fecalysis microscope shows that the sample contains mucus, blood, parasite, bacteria, virus, or pus as well as containing more than 5mg per gram of sugar. Visual confirmation of the results should show that the patient’s stool is colored green, yellow, white, red, or black. It may either be liquid in form or extremely hard. Its pH level is either ower than 5.3 or higher than 6.8.
Lastly, a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) must also be performed to check for occult or hidden blood. Old and traditional tests search for heme while recent versions search for signs of globin.
If you’d like to know more about this type of clinical microscope, http://www.clinical-microscope.com is a great resource.