Bridging the gap between cellular and whole body imaging using Hierarchical Phase-Contrast Tomography: HiP-CT

Humans and other large organisms are three-dimensional multiscale biological systems where large scale function and structure are dependent on the macrostructure’s interconnectivity down to the cellular and subcellular level. Using the exceptional coherence provided by the ESRF-EBS, we have demonstrated that propagation-based phase-contrast can effectively decouple resolution from specimen size in soft tissue, obtaining 1.4 micron voxel resolution in 150 mm diameter human organs. Through this Long Term Proposal (LTP) we will develop the techniques required to image whole human and animal bodies ex vivo at 25 micron resolution, zooming to sub-micron voxels (0.7micron) locally, resolving sub-cellular structures through hard- and soft-tissue. Resolving how the micro (sub-cellular) interacts with the macro (whole organism) across length scales will provide all new insights into biological and biomedical function. This is true for both healthy and pathological system level behaviour.

人类与其他大型生物体均为三维多尺度生物系统，其宏观尺度的功能与结构依赖于从宏观结构直至细胞、亚细胞层面的互联性。依托ESRF-EBS提供的卓越相干性，我们已证实基于传播的相衬成像技术可有效将分辨率与样本尺寸解耦，在软组织中实现了直径150毫米人体器官的1.4微米体素分辨率成像。依托本长期提案（Long Term Proposal, LTP），我们将开发相关技术，以25微米的分辨率对离体完整人体及动物体进行成像，并可局部放大至亚微米体素（0.7微米），通过硬组织与软组织解析亚细胞结构。解析微观（亚细胞）与宏观（完整生物体）如何跨尺度相互作用，将为生物及生物医学功能研究带来全新认知。这一结论同样适用于健康与病理状态下的系统层面行为。