title: Confocal imaging reveals three-dimensional fine structure difference between ventral and dorsal nerve roots.
abstract: Peripheral nerve injury repair is one of the most challenging problems in neurosurgery, partially due to lack of knowledge of three-dimensional (3-D) fine structure and organization of peripheral nerves. In this paper, we explored the structures of nerve fibers in ventral and dorsal nerves with a laser scanning confocal microscopy. Thick tissue staining results suggested that nerve fibers have a different 3-D structure in ventral and dorsal nerves, and reconstruction from serial sectioning images showed that in ventral nerves the nerve fibers travel in a winding form, while in dorsal nerves, the nerve fibers form in a parallel cable pattern. These structural differences could help surgeons to differentiate ventral and dorsal nerves in peripheral nerve injury repair, and also facilitate scientists to get a deeper understanding about nerve fiber organization.
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics-Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Yuxiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sui
authors.forename: Xiaojian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Shaoqun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000166:cytology*