title: Micro-CT scouting for transmission electron microscopy of human tissue specimens.
abstract: Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides sub-nanometre-scale details in volumetric samples. Samples such as pathology tissue specimens are often stained with a metal element to enhance contrast, which makes them opaque to optical microscopes. As a result, it can be a lengthy procedure to find the region of interest inside a sample through sectioning. We describe micro-CT scouting for TEM that allows noninvasive identification of regions of interest within a block sample to guide the sectioning step. In a tissue pathology study, a bench-top micro-CT scanner with 10 μm resolution was used to determine the location of patches of the mucous membrane in osmium-stained human nasal scraping samples. Once the regions of interest were located, the sample block was sectioned to expose that location, followed by ultra-thin sectioning and TEM to inspect the internal structure of the cilia of the membrane epithelial cells with nanometre resolution. This method substantially reduced the time and labour of the search process from typically 20 sections for light microscopy to three sections with no added sample preparation.
authors: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: A G
authors: AG
authors: Morales
authors: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: E S
authors: ES
authors: Stempinski
authors: Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois, U.S.A.
authors: X
authors: X
authors: Xiao
authors: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Patel
authors: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Panna
authors: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: K N
authors: KN
authors: Olivier
authors: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: P J
authors: PJ
authors: McShane
authors: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Robinson
authors: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: A J
authors: AJ
authors: George
authors: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: D R
authors: DR
authors: Donahue
authors: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Chen
authors: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Wen
mesh_terms: D001987:Bronchiectasis / Q000473:pathology; D002923:Cilia / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004853:Epoxy Resins; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008670:Metals; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / Q000379:methods*; D008867:Microtomy; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013997:Time Factors; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography / Q000295:instrumentation
chemical_list: D004853:Epoxy Resins; D008670:Metals
keywords: bench-top micro-CT scanner; micro-CT scouting; three-dimensional visualization; transmission electron microscopy