Bridging the gap between cellular and whole body imaging using Hierarchical Phase-Contrast Tomography: HiP-CT

European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

Abstract

Humans and other large organisms are three-dimensional multiscale biological systems where large scale function and structure are dependent on the macrostructure’s interconnectivity down to the cellular and subcellular level. Using the exceptional coherence provided by the ESRF-EBS, we have demonstrated that propagation-based phase-contrast can effectively decouple resolution from specimen size in soft tissue, obtaining 1.4 micron voxel resolution in 150 mm diameter human organs. Through this Long Term Proposal (LTP) we will develop the techniques required to image whole human and animal bodies ex vivo at 25 micron resolution, zooming to sub-micron voxels (0.7micron) locally, resolving sub-cellular structures through hard- and soft-tissue. Resolving how the micro (sub-cellular) interacts with the macro (whole organism) across length scales will provide all new insights into biological and biomedical function. This is true for both healthy and pathological system level behaviour.

Authors 8

1. Joseph Brunet

   University College London

   Affiliation as printed

   University College London, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Roberts Building, Torrington Place, Wc1e 7je London, United Kingdom

2. Matthieu Chourrout

   Massachusetts General Hospital · Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging

   Affiliation as printed

   Martinos Center, Mass. General Hospital, Laboratories for Computational Neuroimaging, 149 Thirteenth Street Charlestown, 02129, Boston, USA

3. Isabella Hezhao

   University College London

   Affiliation as printed

   University College London, Dept of Medical Physics & Bioengineering, Malet Place, WC1E 6BT, London, UNITED KINGDOM

4. Andrew Keenlyside

   University College London

   Affiliation as printed

   University College London, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Roberts Building, Torrington Place, Wc1e 7je London, United Kingdom

5. Peter D. Lee

   University College London

   Affiliation as printed

   University College London, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Roberts Building, Torrington Place, Wc1e 7je London, United Kingdom

6. Giel Lemmens Aachen Institute for Pathology, UKA-RWTH Aachen

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Pathology, UKA-RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074, Aachen, DE

7. Claire Walsh

   University College London

   Affiliation as printed

   University College London, Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, Paul O'Gorman Building, Wc1e 6tt London, United Kingdom

8. Xi Lin

   University College London

   Affiliation as printed

   University College London, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Roberts Building Torrington Place, WC1E 7JE, London, UNITED KINGDOM