Ethanol fixation method for heart and lung imaging in micro-CT

Matej Patzelt; Jana Mrzilkova; Jan Dudak; Frantisek Krejci; Jan Zemlicka; Jakub Karch; Vladimir Musil; Jozef Rosina; Viktor Sykora; Barbora Horehledova; Petr Zach

doi:10.1007/s11604-019-00830-6

Ethanol fixation method for heart and lung imaging in micro-CT

Matej Patzelt, Jana Mrzilkova^*, Jan Dudak, Frantisek Krejci, Jan Zemlicka, Jakub Karch, Vladimir Musil, Jozef Rosina, Viktor Sykora, Barbora Horehledova, Petr Zach

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

8 Citations (Web of Science)

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
Pages (from-to)	500-510
Number of pages	11
Journal	Japanese Journal of Radiology
Volume	37
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-019-00830-6
Publication status	Published - Jun 2019

Keywords

Ethanol
Micro-CT
Mice
Heart
Lungs
CONTRAST AGENTS
TIMEPIX

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10.1007/s11604-019-00830-6

Cite this

@article{d3a8c2ba18c84a45914f41c2cfd98d06,

title = "Ethanol fixation method for heart and lung imaging in micro-CT",

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.",

keywords = "Ethanol, Micro-CT, Mice, Heart, Lungs, CONTRAST AGENTS, TIMEPIX",

author = "Matej Patzelt and Jana Mrzilkova and Jan Dudak and Frantisek Krejci and Jan Zemlicka and Jakub Karch and Vladimir Musil and Jozef Rosina and Viktor Sykora and Barbora Horehledova and Petr Zach",

year = "2019",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1007/s11604-019-00830-6",

language = "English",

volume = "37",

pages = "500--510",

journal = "Japanese Journal of Radiology",

issn = "1867-1071",

publisher = "Springer, Cham",

number = "6",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Ethanol fixation method for heart and lung imaging in micro-CT

AU - Patzelt, Matej

AU - Mrzilkova, Jana

AU - Dudak, Jan

AU - Krejci, Frantisek

AU - Zemlicka, Jan

AU - Karch, Jakub

AU - Musil, Vladimir

AU - Rosina, Jozef

AU - Sykora, Viktor

AU - Horehledova, Barbora

AU - Zach, Petr

PY - 2019/6

Y1 - 2019/6

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Ethanol

KW - Micro-CT

KW - Mice

KW - Heart

KW - Lungs

KW - CONTRAST AGENTS

KW - TIMEPIX

U2 - 10.1007/s11604-019-00830-6

DO - 10.1007/s11604-019-00830-6

M3 - Article

C2 - 30875011

VL - 37

SP - 500

EP - 510

JO - Japanese Journal of Radiology

JF - Japanese Journal of Radiology

SN - 1867-1071

IS - 6

ER -