X-ray phase tomography with near-field speckles for three-dimensional virtual histology
Marie‐Christine Zdora, Pierre Thibault, Willy Kuo, Vincent Fernández, Hans Deyhle, Joan Vila‐Comamala, Margie P. Olbinado, Alexander Rack, Peter M. Lackie, Orestis L. Katsamenis, Matthew Lawson, Vartan Kurtcuoglu, Christoph Rau, Franz Pfeiffer, Irène Zanette
Abstract
High-contrast, high-resolution imaging of biomedical specimens is indispensable for studying organ function and pathologies. Conventional histology, the gold standard for soft-tissue visualization, is limited by its anisotropic spatial resolution, elaborate sample preparation, and lack of quantitative image information. X-ray absorption or phase tomography have been identified as promising alternatives enabling non-destructive, distortion-free three-dimensional (3D) imaging. However, reaching sufficient contrast and resolution with a simple experimental procedure remains a major challenge. Here, we present a solution based on x-ray phase tomography through speckle-based imaging (SBI). We demonstrate on a mouse kidney that SBI delivers comprehensive 3D maps of hydrated, unstained soft tissue, revealing its microstructure and delivering quantitative tissue-density values at a density resolution of better than <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> <mml:mspace width="thinmathspace"/> <mml:mspace width="thinmathspace"/> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">m</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">g</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">c</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">m</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> and spatial resolution of better than 8 µm. We expect that SBI virtual histology will find widespread application in biomedicine and will open up new possibilities for research and histopathology.