IntraCellular Diagnostics, Inc. ®               

EXA Test®

4 EASY STEPS TO SUBLINGUAL EPITHELIAL CELL SPECIMEN COLLECTION

  Analytical Scanning Electron Microscopy  (ASEM) is  EXA: Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis

 1. Rinse 3X with distilled water

• Do not wear powdered gloves

• Avoid contamination

     1. Use utmost cleanliness.

• The mouth must be very clean before the specimen collection.

• Patient should fast overnight.  PT may drink  medications in the morning with plain water. When sustenance is necessary, PT may have water soluble foods. Do not chew anything sticky. Absolutely no dairy, no soy, no salt, no chewable vitamins, no Tums, etc.

• In the AM, Patient may brush with a non calcium toothpaste.

• Patient  should rinse the  mouth and sublingual  area before entering MD's office

• Do not contaminate spatula or carbon slide. 

• Rinse sublingual area with  distilled water before scraping.

  2.  Scrape the floor of the mouth. End the scraping of soft tissue
   at the foot of the frenulum.

• Start in the back of the mouth, in area parallel to molars. End at the frenulum shown in this picture.
  

• Scrape firmly: Scraping should produce a minor discomfort to the patient. If PT ate, clean/exfoliate first with a spatula . Use a second clean spatula for collection.

• Do not scrape the tongue, the gums,  the teeth, or the frenulum itself.

  2. Scrape sublingual soft tissue  on the  floor of the mouth. 
End at Frenulum-shown here.

  3. Transfer cells to circled area shown here but with
  the flat side of the spatula.

   3. Transfer cells:

•  Immediately while still wet to circled area shown here

•  Use the flat side of the spatula as if spreading butter.

•  If the specimen dries you will have to start all over again.

• Use a smearing circular motion. 
• Be firm but do not press so hard that you scratch or tear the carbon slide.

  4. Fix immediately after collection while specimen is fresh and wet.

• Drop two drops of our fixative outside the circle.

• Too much fixative will wash away the cells.

• Allow to dry before placing in small envelope.

• Properly fixed the specimen has an indefinite life span, unless of course, it is exposed to water or mutilation.

   4. Apply 2 drops of fixative outside of the circle, let it roll over the circle. Apply immediately after transferring specimen and while specimen is still wet.