High resolution 3D visualization of the spinal cord in a post-mortem murine model

Abstract

A crucial issue in the development of therapies to treat pathologies of the central nervous system is represented by the availability of non-invasive methods to study the threedimensional morphology of spinal cord, with a resolution able to characterize its complex vascular and neuronal organization. X-ray phase contrast micro-tomography enables a highquality, 3D visualization of both the vascular and neuronal network simultaneously without the need of contrast agents, destructive sample preparations or sectioning. Until now, high resolution investigations of the post-mortem spinal cord in murine models have mostly been performed in spinal cords removed from the spinal canal. We present here post-mortem phase contrast micro-tomography images reconstructed using advanced computational tools to obtain high-resolution and high-contrast 3D images of the fixed spinal cord without removing the bones and preserving the richness of micro-details available when measuring exposed spinal cords. We believe that it represents a significant step toward the in-vivo application.

Illuminating the Brain With X-Rays: Contributions and Future Perspectives of High-Resolution Microtomography to Neuroscience

“…In spite of being a label-free method, resolution and contrast were demonstrated to be sufficiently good for single cell identification in larger volumes both for rodents ( Fratini et al, 2015 ; Bukreeva et al, 2017 , 2020 ) and for human tissues ( Hieber et al, 2016 ; Khimchenko et al, 2018 ; Topperwien et al, 2018 ).…”

X-ray tomography: the way from layer-by-layer radiography to computed tomography

“…In conclusion, we would like to highlight that the advances achieved in hardware and algorithmic solutions already today make it possible to compare cross-sections of digital images and histology results (fig. 4) [35]. The hardware implementation is still available only at synchrotron stations.…”

“…If the operating mode of the source is fixed, then the radiation load can be varied in two ways -by changing the number of projections or by changing the collecting time of one projection [59]. A decrease in the number of projection angles leads to degradation of the quality of the reconstructed image [35]. Reducing the registration time for one projection saves the number of projections.…”

“…Tomographic image of a section of the spinal cord of the mouse (a). Enlarged areas of tomographic images (b, d),images of histology (c, f)[35]…”

Flexible Plenoptic X-ray Microscopy

“…X-ray computed tomography (CT) is a powerful three-dimensional (3D) imaging method for the non-invasive inner exploration of materials [1] and biological samples [2]. X-ray CT at storage ring sources is traditionally considered a benchmark for investigations in the soft [3] and hard [4] X-ray regimes; it enables access to length scales as low as 1 µm and 50 nm spatial resolutions in the fields of microtomography [5] and nanotomography [6], respectively.…”