Classical histology or immunohistochemistry combined with fluorescence or confocal laser scanning microscopy are common techniques in arthropod neuroanatomy, and these methods often require time-consuming and difficult dissections and sample preparations. Moreover, these methods are prone to artifacts due to compression and distortion of tissues, which often result in information loss and espec...

BACKGROUND Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. We previously reported that respiration-gated X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is a useful tool for analyzing lung tumor development in animal models. MATERIALS AND METHODS Lung tumors were induced by a single intraperitoneal injection (250 mg/kg) of urethane in male A/J mice, followed by indomethacin tre...

BACKGROUND Historically, radiographs, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) exams, palpation and histology have been used to assess fusions in a mouse spine. The objective of this study was to develop a faster, cheaper, reproducible test to directly quantify the mechanical integrity of spinal fusions in mice. METHODS Fusions were induced in ten mice spine using a previously described technique...

Total joint replacements can be subject to the loss of polyethylene material due to wear, leading to osteolysis and decreased implant longevity. Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) techniques have recently been developed to calculate 3D surface deviations in worn implant components. We describe a micro-CT technique to measure the volume of the surface deviations (volume of wear plus creep) wit...

Neurological degeneration can occur after compression of the spinal cord. It is widely accepted that spinal cord compression leads to ischemic lesions and ultimately neurological dysfunction due to a narrowed spinal canal. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the pathogenesis of spinal cord compression injury is required to help develop effective clinical interventions. In the present study,...

Appropriate nephron function is dependent on the intrarenal arrangement of blood vessels. The preferred and primary means to study the architecture of intrarenal circulation has been by filling it with opaque substances such as india ink, radio-opaque contrast material, or various polymers for study by light or scanning electron microscopy. With such methodologies, superficial vessels may obscu...

PURPOSE Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive diagnostic technique that may be useful for both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the periodontium. Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is another noninvasive imaging technique capable of providing submicron spatial resolution. The purpose of this study was to present periodontal images obtained using ex vivo dental OCT and to...

Imaging techniques have been introduced to assess the efficacy and toxicity of developing pharmaceuticals. The purpose of this study was to perform a comprehensive characterization of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in rats using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and to compare the results with data from conventional pathological examination. Arthritis was induced by collagen in 24 female W...

We tested the hypothesis that micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) analysis provides a better quantitative readout of the therapeutic potential of methotrexate (MTX) for treating collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in rats and compared to conventional histopathological examination. Rats were divided into three groups: Group 1 (G1) was treated with 0.9% saline, whereas groups 2 (G2) and 3 (G3) were...

PURPOSE We have developed a new method of segmenting the areas of absorbable implants and bone using region-based segmentation of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) images, which allowed us to quantify volumetric bone-implant contact (VBIC) and volumetric absorption (VA). MATERIALS AND METHODS The simple threshold technique generally used in micro-CT analysis cannot be used to segment the a...