A novel method for long-term preserving of urine microstructure using poly(vinyl chloride)

For urinalysis teaching and routine clinical imaging of urine, urine microscopic test needs slides that can be clearly examined for long term, which is still under focus. This study hypothesized, that poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and polystyrene (PS) could be able to reserve the urine components for a long time. Therefore, we explored, for the first time upon our knowledge, the potential of PVC and PS polymers to adhere the cover slide. The physical properties, viscosity, average molecular weight, the tensile strength and intrinsic viscosity of the polymers were determined. A normal slide (8 x 3 cm x 1 mm) was used to test a urine sample in the presence of either 3% PVC in tetra hydro-furan(THF) or 3% PS. The results of imaging the PVC and PS slide indicate a clear and transparent vision. The PVC urine slide maintains normal components of urine up to a year, which did not observe in the PS slide. These results suggest that PVC is an effective polymer to protect urine compositions from hydrolyses or decomposition, which makes this novel urine slide a successful candidate for long-term teaching of urinalyses.