• Histotechnicians use microscopes and other tools to examine body tissues.microscope image by christemo from Fotolia.com
  
  A histotechnician, also known as a histology technician, is a clinical laboratory professional. He works with a pathologist (a medical doctor who diagnoses the nature and cause of diseases), using microscopes and other tools to examine body tissues. Most histotechnicians are employed in laboratories, clinics or hospitals under direct supervision of a laboratory manager, histotechnologist or pathologist.
  
  

Preparation of Tissue Samples

• One of a histotechnician's primary duties is to prepare sections of animal or human tissue for examination under a microscope. To do so, the histotechnician uses rapid tissue processing or frozen section techniques (special techniques used to prepare tissue for a microscope examination) to freeze the tissue received from surgery. After the tissue is frozen, the histotechnician cuts it and mounts the slices onto microscope slides, then stains the samples with special dyes to enhance visibility of cells under the microscope.
  
  

Microscope Examination

• Another duty of a histotechnician is to examine slides under the microscope to make sure tissue preparation meets laboratory standards and requirements. She may also study the slides under the microscope to detect deviations from the norm and report abnormalities to a pathologist for further study.
  
  

Equipment Operation

• A histotechnician also has the duty of operating computerized laboratory equipment in order to fix, dehydrate and then infiltrate tissues with wax to preserve them for further study by a pathologist. For this duty, a histology technician needs to have a sufficient degree of computer literacy, in addition to her proficiency in basic biology, physics, medicine and chemistry.