Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Radiology, 312(1), e232731. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.232731 Dr. Joseph Brunet et al.
Points
- Hierarchical phase-contrast tomography (HiP-CT) using fourth-generation synchrotron sources has advanced medical imaging, enabling detailed cardiac analysis from macro- to microanatomical scales.
- Conducted at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (February 2021 – September 2023), the study examined two adult human donor hearts—one healthy and one diseased—prepared in a crushed agar and ethanol solution.
- HiP-CT provided exceptional spatial resolution, visualizing structural details like the myocardium, heart valves, coronary arteries, and cardiac conduction system. Resolutions ranged from 20 µm for whole-heart volumes to 2.3–6.4 µm for localized regions, capturing cellular-level details without contrast agents or destructive methods.
- The technique enabled non-destructive virtual sectioning, revealing insights into fatty infiltration, vascular supply, and connectivity between cardiac nodes and surrounding structures.
- HiP-CT’s ability to offer high-resolution, three-dimensional images of both standard and diseased hearts ex vivo holds significant potential for clinical research, enhancing diagnostic capabilities in cardiology, deepening understanding of cardiac pathology, and guiding therapeutic interventions.
Summary
Hierarchical phase-contrast tomography (HiP-CT), employing fourth-generation synchrotron sources, has emerged as a pivotal advancement in medical imaging, particularly for detailed cardiac analysis. This study, conducted at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility between February 2021 and September 2023, aimed to evaluate HiP-CT’s capability to render detailed images of human hearts ex vivo, spanning macro- to microanatomical scales. The subjects of the study were two adult human donor hearts—one from a 63-year-old White male with no reported cardiac disease and another from an 87-year-old White female with a history of ischemic heart disease, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation—both fixed in formalin and prepared in a crushed agar and 70% ethanol solution.
The results from the HiP-CT imaging demonstrated exceptional spatial resolution capabilities, enabling the visualization of structural details across multiple scales in intact organs. The technique successfully depicted histologic-level details such as the myocardium, heart valves, coronary arteries, and elements of the cardiac conduction system. HiP-CT facilitated non-destructive virtual sectioning that provided insights into the fatty infiltration, vascular supply, and connectivity between the cardiac nodes and nearby structures. The imaging resolutions achieved ranged from approximately 20 µm for whole-heart volumes to about 2.3–6.4 µm for localized regions of interest, capturing details at the cellular level without using exogenous contrast agents or destructive preparation methods.
In conclusion, HiP-CT has proven to be a transformative tool in cardiac imaging, offering high-resolution, three-dimensional visualizations of both standard and diseased human hearts ex vivo. This modality’s ability to provide detailed images across scales—from gross anatomical to cellular levels—without destructive techniques underscores its potential utility in clinical research and the direct assessment of cardiovascular diseases. This advancement could significantly enhance the diagnostic capabilities in cardiology, providing a deeper understanding of cardiac pathology and potentially guiding therapeutic interventions.
Link to the article: https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiol.232731
References Brunet, J., Cook, A. C., Walsh, C. L., Cranley, J., Tafforeau, P., Engel, K., Arthurs, O., Berruyer, C., Burke O’Leary, E., Bellier, A., Torii, R., Werlein, C., Jonigk, D. D., Ackermann, M., Dollman, K., Lee, P. D., & Atzen, S. (2024). Multidimensional Analysis of the Adult Human Heart in Health and Disease Using Hierarchical Phase-Contrast Tomography. Radiology, 312(1), e232731. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.232731
