MicroCT versus sTSLIM 3D imaging of the mouse cochlea.
We made a qualitative and quantitative comparison between a state-of-the-art implementation of micro-Computed Tomography (microCT) and the scanning Thin-Sheet Laser Imaging Microscopy (sTSLIM) method, applied to mouse cochleae. Both imaging methods are non-destructive and perform optical sectioning, respectively, with X-rays and laser light. MicroCT can be used on fresh or fixed tissue samples and is primarily designed to image bone rather than soft tissues. It requires complex back-projection algorithms to produce a two-dimensional image, and it is an expensive instrument. sTSLIM requires that a specimen be chemically fixed, decalcified, and cleared; but it produces high-resolution images of soft and bony tissues with minimum image postprocessing and is less expensive than microCT. In this article, we discuss the merits and disadvantages of each method individually and when combined.
Laboratory of BioMedical Physics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerpen, Belgium. jan.buytaert@ua.ac.be
Jan A N
JA
Buytaert
Shane B
SB
Johnson
Manuel
M
Dierick
Wasil H M
WH
Salih
Peter A
PA
Santi
D000818:Animals; D003051:Cochlea / Q000166:cytology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*