What is primarily removed during the dehydration process?

During the dehydration process in histopathology, the primary substance removed is water. This process is crucial prior to embedding tissues in paraffin wax because water is incompatible with the wax used in the embedding process. The dehydration usually involves the gradual substitution of water in the tissue samples with increasing concentrations of alcohol or other dehydrating agents. By removing water, the tissue becomes more amenable to infiltration with the embedding medium, allowing for proper sectioning and preservation of the tissue architecture.

The removal of air is not a direct goal of the dehydration process; although a vacuum may be employed in some laboratory techniques to enhance the speed of dehydration, air itself is not the target. Similarly, while cells are part of tissue samples, they are not removed during dehydration; instead, the goal is to preserve the cellular structure and integrity. The reference to data is irrelevant in the context of histopathology and the dehydration process. Hence, the correct understanding of this process centers around the crucial removal of water to facilitate subsequent embedding and tissue evaluation.