Quantitative characterization and diagnosis via hard X‐ray phase‐contrast microtomography. Issue 10 (20th September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Huiqiang; Ji, Xuewen; Ma, Yan; Du, Guohao; Fu, Yanan; Abudureheman, Yibanu; Liu, Wenya
• Is Part Of: Microscopy research and technique. Volume 81:Issue 10(2018)
• Page Start: 1173
• Page End: 1181
• Publication Date: 2018-09-20
• Subjects: hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) -- micromorphological diagnosis and assessment -- quantitative segmentation -- synchrotron radiation -- X‐ray phase microtomography; Electron microscopy -- Technique -- Periodicals; Microscopy -- Periodicals; Microscopy -- Technique -- Periodicals; 502.825
• DOI: 10.1002/jemt.23114
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1059-910X

Abstract

Abstract: Nondestructive three‐dimensional (3D) micromorphological imaging technique is essential for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) disease to determine its damage level and early diagnosis, assess relative drug therapy and optimize treatment strategies. However, the existing morphological researches of HAE mainly depend on the conventional CT, MRI, or ultrasound in hospitals, unfortunately confronting with the common limit of imaging resolution and sensitivity, especially for tiny or early HAE lesions. Now we presented a phase‐retrieval‐based synchrotron X‐ray phase computed tomography (PR‐XPCT) with striking contrast‐to‐noise ratio and high‐density resolution to visualize the HAE nondestructive 3D structures and quantitatively segment different pathological characteristics of HAE lesions without staining process at the micrometer scale. Our experimental results of the HAE rat models at early and developed pathological stages and albendazole liposome (L‐ABZ) therapeutic feeding models successfully exhibited the different HAE pathological 3D morphological and microstructural characteristics with excellent contrast and high resolution, demonstrating its availability and superiority. Moreover, we achieved the quantitative statistics and analysis of the pathological changes of HAE lesions at different stages and L‐ABZ therapeutic evaluation, helpful to understanding the development and drug treatment of HAE disease. The PR‐XPCT‐based quantitative segmentation and characterization has a great potential in detection and analysis of soft tissue pathological changes, such as different tumors. Abstract : We employed the phase‐retrieval‐based synchrotron X‐ray phase computed tomography (PR‐XPCT) with striking contrast‐to‐noise ratio and high density resolution to successfully visualize the nondestructive inner 3D structures of different tiny HAE lesions and quantitatively segment their different pathological characteristics without staining process at the micrometer scale. This method has a great potential in quantitative visualization and assessment of the subtle pathological morphology of soft tissues or organs in the early stages.