Abstract
Purpose The soft tissue imaging in micro-CT remains challenging due to its low intrinsic contrast. The aim of this study was to create a simple staining method omitting the usage of contrast agents for ex vivo soft tissue imaging in micro-CT.
Materials and methods Hearts and lungs from 30 mice were used. Twenty-seven organs were either fixed in 97% or 50% ethanol solution or in a series of ascending ethanol concentrations. Images were acquired after 72, 168 and 336h on a custom-built micro-CT machine and compared to scans of three native samples.
Results Ethanol provided contrast enhancement in all evaluated fixations. Fixation in 97% ethanol resulted in contrast enhancement after 72 h; however, it caused hardening of the samples. Fixation in 50% ethanol provided contrast enhancement after 336 h, with milder hardening, compared to the 97% ethanol fixation, but the visualization of details was worse. The fixation in a series of ascending ethanol concentrations provided the most satisfactory results; all organs were visualized in great detail without tissue damage.
Conclusions Simple ethanol fixation improves the tissue contrast enhancement in micro-CT. The best results can be obtained with fixation of the soft tissue samples in a series of ascending ethanol concentrations.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 500-510 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Japanese Journal of Radiology |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2019 |
Keywords
- Ethanol
- Micro-CT
- Mice
- Heart
- Lungs
- CONTRAST AGENTS
- TIMEPIX