If this hasn't already happened to you, it will... someday.

All About Dry Ice

Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide (CO₂).  At -78.5°C, it sublimates directly into CO₂ gas instead of melting into a liquid, which makes it the perfect no-mess solution for cooling a warm cryo in a pinch.

Why does it vibrate inside the cryostat?

Compared to the ice, the metal of the microtome is HOT.  The rapid evaporation of CO₂ results in an audible vibration as the lump of dry ice hovers above the layer of gas and then falls back to the metal surface. 

Where can I buy some?  

Dry ice can be purchased from some grocery stores in 8-10lb slabs (~$1-2/lb).  Half a block should be enough, meaning you'll spend about $5-10.  It’s a good idea to call your local store ahead of time to make sure they carry it.  While one Albertsons may sell it, another may not, and you don’t want to find that out on the morning of your cryo crisis.

For safety reasons, the dry ice is kept locked up, so make a beeline to the checkout area and ask a cashier or manager-type person to get some for you.  You will need to break the block into smaller pieces to place inside your cryo.  I would recommend doing this in the parking lot rather than inside the office, since it can be rather noisy.  Besides, if you do it outside, there’s no one to witness you swinging the bag and yelling “HULK SMASH!” as the frozen block hits the cement.

full slab of dry ice

broken into chunks

Welcome back to the Mobile Mohs Blog!

First off, we'd like to thank Natasha for all the hard work she's put into the blog from 2010 to 2011 and we wish her the best with baby Coralyn! Michelle will be taking over the blog for now.

There have been quite a few changes to We Know Mohs since the last post.  the purpose of the old blog was to give tips to other histotechnicians and show doctors what Mobile Mohs is all about.  We Know Mohs is now exclusively for Mobile Mohs employees – a private space for us to share tips and techniques earned with the blood, sweat, and tears (quite literally) of all of our technicians over the past 33 years.  We’ll also throw in some pearls of wisdom, examples of good and bad slides, mohs gnome horror stories, and other mohs related tidbits.  Stay tuned!