Threea??dimensional imaging of the mouse heart and vasculature using microa??CT and wholea??body perfusion of iodine or phosphotungstic acid

摘要

Recent studies have investigated histological staining compounds as microa??computed tomography (microa??CT) contrast agents, delivered by soaking tissue specimens in stain and relying on passive diffusion for agent uptake. This study describes a perfusion approach using iodine or phosphotungstic acid (PTA) stains, delivered to an intact mouse, to capitalize on the microvasculature as a delivery conduit for parenchymal staining and direct contact for staining artery walls. Twelve C57BL/6 mice, arterially perfused with either 25% Lugol's solution or 5% PTA solution were scanned intact and reconstructed with 26a???μm isotropic voxels. The animals were fixed and the heart and surrounding vessels were excised, embedded and scanned; isolated heart images were reconstructed with 13a???μm isotropic voxels. Myocardial enhancement and artery diameters were measured. Both stains successfully enhanced the myocardium and vessel walls. Interestingly, Lugol's solution provided a significantly higher enhancement of the myocardium than PTA [2502a???±a??437 vs 656a???±a??178 Hounsfield units (HU); pa??a??0.0001], delineating myofiber architecture and orientation. There was no significant difference in vessel wall enhancement (Lugol's, 1036a???±a??635 HU; PTA, 738a???±a??124 HU; pa??=a??0.29), but coronary arteries were more effectively segmented from the PTAa??stained hearts, enabling segmented imaging of fiftha?? order coronary artery branches. The combination of whole mouse perfusion delivery and use of heavy metala??containing stains affords higha??resolution imaging of the mouse heart and vasculature by microa??CT. The differential imaging patterns of Lugol'sa?? and PTAa??stained tissues reveals new opportunities for microa??analyses of cardiac and vascular tissues. Copyright ?? 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.