Phase-contrast X-ray CT imaging of esophagus and esophageal carcinoma

Visualization of Unhatched Brine Shrimp Eggs in Zebrafish Intestines Using Synchrotron Radiation Phase-Contrast CT

Brine shrimp are an ideal bait for zebrafish with high protein content. In laboratory settings, brine shrimp eggs (BSEs) are commonly used to hatch for acquiring brine shrimp. However, not all BSEs are able to successfully hatch into brine shrimp. Actually, some unhatched BSEs (UBSEs) retain and are collected along with the brine shrimp as bait. The digestibility of UBSEs and their potential impact on the digestive system of zebrafish have not been demonstrated. In this study, high-resolution synchrotron radiation phase-contrast CT (PCCT) was used to show the internal structures of UBSEs. Morphological changes of UBSEs were investigated after digestion in zebrafish intestines. The visualization of shell rupturing, collapsing, and shattering of UBSEs reveals that zebrafish intestines exerted much extra useless effort to digest the UBSEs. The results indicate that UBSEs should be completely discarded from the bait of brine shrimp before feeding zebrafish.

Unveiling Another Dimension: Advanced Visualization of Cancer Invasion and Metastasis via Micro-CT Imaging

Invasion and metastasis are well-known hallmarks of cancer, with metastatic disease accounting for 60% to 90% of cancer-related deaths [...].

T staging esophageal tumors with x rays

With histopathology results typically taking several days, the ability to stage tumors during interventions could provide a step change in various cancer interventions. X-ray technology has advanced significantly in recent years with the introduction of phase-based imaging methods. These have been adapted for use in standard labs rather than specialized facilities such as synchrotrons, and approaches that enable fast 3D scans with conventional x-ray sources have been developed. This opens the possibility to produce 3D images with enhanced soft tissue contrast at a level of detail comparable to histopathology, in times sufficiently short to be compatible with use during surgical interventions. In this paper we discuss the application of one such approach to human esophagi obtained from esophagectomy interventions. We demonstrate that the image quality is sufficiently high to enable tumor T staging based on the x-ray datasets alone. Alongside detection of involved margins with potentially life-saving implications, staging tumors intra-operatively has the potential to change patient pathways, facilitating optimization of therapeutic interventions during the procedure itself. Besides a prospective intra-operative use, the availability of high-quality 3D images of entire esophageal tumors can support histopathological characterization, from enabling "right slice first time" approaches to understanding the histopathology in the full 3D context of the surrounding tumor environment.

High-Resolution Phase-Contrast Tomography on Human Collagenous Tissues: A Comprehensive Review

Phase-contrast X-ray imaging is becoming increasingly considered since its first applications, which occurred almost 30 years ago. Particular emphasis was placed on studies that use this technique to investigate soft tissues, which cannot otherwise be investigated at a high resolution and in a three-dimensional manner, using conventional absorption-based settings. Indeed, its consistency and discrimination power in low absorbing samples, unified to being a not destructive analysis, are pushing interests on its utilization from researchers of different specializations, from botany, through zoology, to human physio-pathology research. In this regard, a challenging method for 3D imaging and quantitative analysis of collagenous tissues has spread in recent years: it is based on the unique characteristics of synchrotron radiation phase-contrast microTomography (PhC-microCT). In this review, the focus has been placed on the research based on the exploitation of synchrotron PhC-microCT for the investigation of collagenous tissue physio-pathologies from solely human samples. Collagen tissues' elasto-mechanic role bonds it to the morphology of the site it is extracted from, which could weaken the results coming from animal experimentations. Encouraging outcomes proved this technique to be suitable to access and quantify human collagenous tissues and persuaded different researchers to approach it. A brief mention was also dedicated to the results obtained on collagenous tissues using new and promising high-resolution phase-contrast tomographic laboratory-based setups, which will certainly represent the real step forward in the diffusion of this relatively young imaging technique.

Visualising the 3D microstructure of stained and native intervertebral discs using X-ray microtomography

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is linked to low back pain. Microstructural changes during degeneration have previously been imaged using 2D sectioning techniques and 3D methods which are limited to small specimens and prone to inducing artefacts from sample preparation. This study explores micro computed X-ray tomography (microCT) methods with the aim of resolving IVD 3D microstructure whilst minimising sample preparation artefacts. Low X-ray absorption contrast in non-mineralised tissue can be enhanced using staining and phase contrast techniques. A step-wise approach, including comparing three stains, was used to develop microCT for bovine tail IVD using laboratory and synchrotron sources. Staining successfully contrasted collagenous structures; however not all regions were stained and the procedure induced macroscopic structural changes. Phase contrast microCT of chemically fixed yet unstained samples resolved the nucleus pulposus, annulus fibrosus and constituent lamellae, and finer structures including collagen bundles and cross-bridges. Using the same imaging methods native tissue scans were of slightly lower contrast but free from sample processing artefacts. In the future these methods may be used to characterise structural remodelling in soft (non-calcified) tissues and to conduct in situ studies of native loaded tissues and constructs to characterise their 3D mechanical properties.

Phase-Contrast Micro-Computed Tomography Measurements of the Intraocular Pressure-Induced Deformation of the Porcine Lamina Cribrosa

The lamina cribrosa (LC) is a complex mesh-like tissue in the posterior eye. Its biomechanical environment is thought to play a major role in glaucoma, the second most common cause of blindness. Due to its small size and relative inaccessibility, high-resolution measurements of LC deformation, important in characterizing LC biomechanics, are challenging. Here we present a novel noninvasive imaging method, which enables measurement of the three-dimensional deformation of the LC caused by acute elevation of intraocular pressure (IOP). Posterior segments of porcine eyes were imaged using synchrotron radiation phase contrast micro-computed tomography (PC μCT) at IOPs between 6 and 37 mmHg. The complex trabecular architecture of the LC was reconstructed with an isotropic spatial resolution of 3.2 μm. Scans acquired at different IOPs were analyzed with digital volume correlation (DVC) to compute full-field deformation within the LC. IOP elevation caused substantial tensile, shearing and compressive devformation within the LC, with maximum tensile strains at 30 mmHg averaging 5.5%, and compressive strains reaching 20%. We conclude that PC μCT provides a novel high-resolution method for imaging the LC, and when combined with DVC, allows for full-field 3D measurement of ex vivo LC biomechanics at high spatial resolution.

3D visualization of the lumbar facet joint after degeneration using propagation phase contrast micro-tomography

Lumbar facet joint (LFJ) degeneration is believed to be an important cause of low back pain (LBP). Identifying the morphological changes of the LFJ in the degeneration process at a high-resolution level could be meaningful for our better understanding of the possible mechanisms underlying this process. In the present study, we determined the 3D morphology of the LFJ using propagation phase contrast micro-tomography (PPCT) in rats to assess the subtle changes that occur during the degeneration process. PPCT provides vivid 3D images of micromorphological changes in the LFJ during its degeneration process, and the changes in the subchondral bone occurred earlier than in the cartilage during the early stage of degeneration of the LFJ. The delineation of this alteration was similar to that with the histological method. Our findings demonstrated that PPCT could serve as a valuable tool for 3D visualization of the morphology of the LFJ by providing comprehensive information about the cartilage and the underlying subchondral bone and their changes during degeneration processes. It might also have great potential for providing effective diagnostic tools to track changes in the cartilage and to evaluate the effects of therapeutic interventions for LFJ degeneration in preclinical studies.

X-ray phase-contrast tomography for high-spatial-resolution zebrafish muscle imaging

Imaging of muscular structure with cellular or subcellular detail in whole-body animal models is of key importance for understanding muscular disease and assessing interventions. Classical histological methods for high-resolution imaging methods require excision, fixation and staining. Here we show that the three-dimensional muscular structure of unstained whole zebrafish can be imaged with sub-5 μm detail with X-ray phase-contrast tomography. Our method relies on a laboratory propagation-based phase-contrast system tailored for detection of low-contrast 4-6 μm subcellular myofibrils. The method is demonstrated on 20 days post fertilization zebrafish larvae and comparative histology confirms that we resolve individual myofibrils in the whole-body animal. X-ray imaging of healthy zebrafish show the expected structured muscle pattern while specimen with a dystrophin deficiency (sapje) displays an unstructured pattern, typical of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The method opens up for whole-body imaging with sub-cellular detail also of other types of soft tissue and in different animal models.

Microdissection of Human Esophagogastric Junction Wall with Phase-contrast X-ray CT Imaging

Phase-contrast x-ray imaging using an x-ray interferometer has great potential to reveal the structures inside soft tissues, because the sensitivity of this method to hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen is about 1000 times higher than that of the absorption-contrast x-ray method. In this study, we used phase-contrast X-ray CT to investigate human resected esophagogastric junction. This technology revealed the three-layer structure of the esophagogastric junction wall-mucous, submucosa and muscular layers. The mucous and muscular layers were clearly separated by a loose submucosa layer with a honeycomb appearance. The shape of the mucous and muscular layers was intact. The boundary between the mucous and submucosa layers was distinct, as was the border of the muscular and submucosa layers. The surface of the esophagogastric junction was displayed clearly through 3D reconstruction. The technology might be helpful in the diagnosis of esophagogastric junction lesion, especially for the early adenocarcinoma.

Three-dimensional visualization of the microvasculature of bile duct ligation-induced liver fibrosis in rats by x-ray phase-contrast imaging computed tomography

X-ray phase-contrast imaging (PCI) can substantially enhance contrast, and is particularly useful in differentiating biological soft tissues with small density differences. Combined with computed tomography (CT), PCI-CT enables the acquisition of accurate microstructures inside biological samples. In this study, liver microvasculature was visualized without contrast agents in vitro with PCI-CT using liver fibrosis samples induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) in rats. The histological section examination confirmed the correspondence of CT images with the microvascular morphology of the samples. By means of the PCI-CT and three-dimensional (3D) visualization technique, 3D microvascular structures in samples from different stages of liver fibrosis were clearly revealed. Different types of blood vessels, including portal veins and hepatic veins, in addition to ductular proliferation and bile ducts, could be distinguished with good sensitivity, excellent specificity and excellent accuracy. The study showed that PCI-CT could assess the morphological changes in liver microvasculature that result from fibrosis and allow characterization of the anatomical and pathological features of the microvasculature. With further development of PCI-CT technique, it may become a novel noninvasive imaging technique for the auxiliary analysis of liver fibrosis.

Optically transparent FTO-free cathode for dye-sensitized solar cells

The woven fabric containing electrochemically platinized tungsten wire is an affordable flexible cathode for liquid-junction dye-sensitized solar cells with the I3(-)/I(-) redox mediator and electrolyte solution consisting of ionic liquids and propionitrile. The fabric-based electrode outperforms the thermally platinized FTO in serial ohmic resistance and charge-transfer resistance for triiodide reduction, and it offers comparable or better optical transparency in the visible and particularly in the near-IR spectral region. The electrode exhibits good stability during electrochemical loading and storage at open circuit. The dye-sensitized solar cells with a C101-sensitized titania photoanode and either Pt-W/PEN or Pt-FTO cathodes show a comparable performance.