Making Better Use of Test Kits

Image Overload

Back to observing c19 test kits. This time I took a slightly different approach and integrated a few new additions. Not sure it proves much aside from that I’m more than capable of making a mess. But at least the images are coming out well. I’ve also been giving my 5MP digital camera another shot, and I think it’ll provide some good practice while I consider upgrade options.

The new approach was to empty the reagent into a small plastic vial, combine a drop of Methylene Blue and a drop of DMSO (this I picked up from Karl C. who suggests it may lend a “slowing” factor and allow certain processes to be better observed). Next I dipped the swab into the vial to ensure complete saturation. Finally I smeared the swab on a slide and covered a portion of the smear with a cover-slip.

In this first clip you can see the characteristic way in which the methylene blue crystalizes as it dries.

The first objects of curiosity in the sample are these plant-cell mimicking structures that seemed to grow in random locations. They’re usually a rusty orange-brown color, but in this case I believe the methylene dyed them blue.

I was feeling creative, so I decided to “blow up” a large cluster of crystals by adding the last few drops of Narcan I had in a syringe from a previous sample. What resulted was a rapid disintegration followed by an almost as rapid reintegration of new crystals. Thankfully I was able to capture some of the pretty chaos with my new-old microscope camera:

You may have noticed these images contain a bit more color variety than usual. It appears that the stain likes to pool in recessess inside the crystals. Not entirely sure what to attribute the pink coloration to but were dealing with a pretty strange chemical concoction at this point, so who knows? I’m just happy nothing has exploded on me yet.

note the pooling blue areas

after I blew up the crystal cluster. Red crystals with deep inky splotches.

strange gel/crystal structure. the red hairs are remnants of the methylene blue crystallization process.

random crystal patterns.

Resulting crystals after Narcan was applied.

It’s quite remarkable just how slow and drawn out the drying process is for these kits. You might think that once the initial reaction phase had passed, that would be the end of the changes taking place. I was surprised to see just how much things had changed when I came back after many weeks to observe my last kit sample. This time I’ll endeavor to keep closer tabs on any changes and perhaps update if things get really weird.

Thank you once again to everyone who has taken an interest and shown support for my journey here on SS. It's an incredible place to learn and share; full of so much shared knowledge and information. Take care until next time!

-Will