title: Are human peripheral nerves sensitive to X-ray imaging?
abstract: Diagnostic imaging techniques play an important role in assessing the exact location, cause, and extent of a nerve lesion, thus allowing clinicians to diagnose and manage more effectively a variety of pathological conditions, such as entrapment syndromes, traumatic injuries, and space-occupying lesions. Ultrasound and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging are becoming useful methods for this purpose, but they still lack spatial resolution. In this regard, recent phase contrast x-ray imaging experiments of peripheral nerve allowed the visualization of each nerve fiber surrounded by its myelin sheath as clearly as optical microscopy. In the present study, we attempted to produce high-resolution x-ray phase contrast images of a human sciatic nerve by using synchrotron radiation propagation-based imaging. The images showed high contrast and high spatial resolution, allowing clear identification of each fascicle structure and surrounding connective tissue. The outstanding result is the detection of such structures by phase contrast x-ray tomography of a thick human sciatic nerve section. This may further enable the identification of diverse pathological patterns, such as Wallerian degeneration, hypertrophic neuropathy, inflammatory infiltration, leprosy neuropathy and amyloid deposits. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first successful phase contrast x-ray imaging experiment of a human peripheral nerve sample. Our long-term goal is to develop peripheral nerve imaging methods that could supersede biopsy procedures.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Jataí, Goiás, 75804-020, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jonas Francisco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Scopel
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Anatomia Patológica, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-887, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Souza Queiroz
authors.affiliation: Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Francis Pierce
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: O'Dowd
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-887, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcondes Cavalcante França
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Júnior
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-887, Brazil.
authors.forename: Anamarli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nucci
authors.affiliation: Instituto Latino-Americano de Ciências da Vida e da Natureza, Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana, Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, 85867-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo Gonçalves
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Hönnicke
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D017356:Synchrotrons; D014056:Tomography, X-Ray / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*