Backscattered electron imaging for the life sciences: introduction and index to applications - 1961 to 1980.

Backscattered electron imaging (BEI) in a scanning electron microscope has been used in biological investigation since 1961. Originally used for imaging specimen surfaces during x-ray microanalysis, applications of this method accelerated rapidly with the recognition of its potential for selective imaging of heavy metal stained biological structures, including those labelled by cytochemical methods. This use of backscattered imaging, to view heavy metal stained structures in cells and tissues, has become the predominate BEI application in the life sciences. This paper presents a brief introduction to BEI as it relates to the use of the scanning microscope for histo - and cytochemistry. Biological applications reported in the years 1961-1980 are cited and indexed by subject and author(s).