Contrast-enhanced ex vivo microCT imaging for virtual 3D histology of biological tissues
Greet Kerckhofs
1 Institute of Mechanics, Materials, and Civil Engineering (iMMC), UCLouvain, Belgium.
2 Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research (IREC), UCLouvain, Belgium.
3 Dept. Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium.
4 Prometheus, Division of Skeletal Tissue Engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract
Biological tissues are 3D structures with a complex spatial heterogeneity, for which traditional 2D imaging techniques such as conventional colorimetric histomorphometry are insufficient to fully characterize their microstructure and composition. Advanced 3D imaging is one of the enabling technologies that is of increasing importance in the biomedical field to assess tissue quality, and to provide better knowledge on the link between the tissue microstructure and its proper in vivo functioning. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of the potential of contrast-enhanced microfocus computed tomography (CE-CT) for quantitative X-ray-based 3D histology of both soft and mineralized tissues. Within the ContrasTTeam, we aim to optimize this technique, both in terms of hardware (side equipment and contrast-enhancing staining agents) and software (for image acquisition, reconstruction and analysis) specifically for different biomedical applications. I will provide an overview of what we have achieved over the past 10 years to become the reference in the field, but I will also discuss which are the currently remaining challenges and how we will aim to tackle (some of) them in the future.