Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Erythrocytes Using the Novel Method For Corrective Realignment of the Transmission Electron Microscopy Cross-Section Images

Abstract

The detailed kinetics study of erythrocyte deformability is useful for the early diagnosis of blood diseases and for monitoring the blood rheology. Present solutions for a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of erythrocytes has a limited potential. This study aimed to use erythrocyte transmission electron images (ETIs) to evaluate the morphological relationship between adjacent ETIs and generate erythrocytes 3D model. First, ultrathin serial sections of skeletal muscle tissue were obtained using an ultramicrotome. Further, the set of ETIs in a capillary were captured by transmission electron microscopy. The images were aligned by translations and rotations using custom software to optimize the morphological relationship between adjacent ETIs. These coordinate transformations exploit the unique principal axis of inertia of each image to define the body coordinate system and hence provide the means to accurately reconnect the adjacent ETIs. The sum of the distances between the corresponding points on the boundary of adjacent ETIs was minimized and, further, was optimized by using physiological relationship between the adjacent ETIs. The analysis allowed to define precise virtual relationship between the adjacent erythrocytes. Finally, extracted erythrocytes’ cross-section images allowed to generate 3D model of the erythrocytes.