The 3D visualization of twenty single hepatic sinusoids.

<p>They were randomly chosen from different part of three CHL samples. The 3D visualization shows vivid shapes and stereoscopic effects. All the hepatic sinusoids are not of uniform size, and they are presented with various shapes.</p

High-Resolution Micro-CT for Morphologic and Quantitative Assessment of the Sinusoid in Human Cavernous Hemangioma of the Liver

<div><p>Hepatic sinusoid plays a vital role in human cavernous hemangioma of the liver (CHL), and its morphologic investigation facilitates the understanding of microcirculation mechanism and pathological change of CHL. However, precise anatomical view of the hepatic sinusoid has been limited by the resolution and contrast available from existing imaging techniques. While liver biopsy has traditionally been the reliable method for the assessment of hepatic sinusoids, the invasiveness and sampling error are its inherent limitations. In this study, imaging of CHL samples was performed using in-line phase-contrast imaging (ILPCI) technique with synchrotron radiation. ILPCI allowed clear visualization of soft tissues and revealed structural details that were invisible to conventional radiography. Combining the computed tomography (CT) technique, ILPCI-CT was used to acquire the high-resolution micro-CT images of CHL, and three dimensional (3D) microstructures of hepatic sinusoids were provided for the morphologic depiction and quantitative assessment. Our study demonstrated that ILPCI-CT could substantially improve the radiographic contrast of CHL tissues in vitro with no contrast agent. ILPCI-CT yielded high-resolution micro-CT image of CHL sample at the micron scale, corresponding to information on actual structures revealed at histological section. The 3D visualization provided an excellent view of the hepatic sinusoid. The accurate view of individual hepatic sinusoid was achieved. The valuable morphological parameters of hepatic sinusoids, such as thrombi, diameters, surface areas and volumes, were measured. These parameters were of great importance in the evaluation of CHL, and they provided quantitative descriptors that characterized anatomical properties and pathological features of hepatic sinusoids. The results highlight the high degree of sensitivity of the ILPCI-CT technique and demonstrate the feasibility of accurate visualization of hepatic sinusoids. Moreover, there is a correlation between the CHL and the size or morphology of hepatic sinusoids, which offers a potential use in noninvasive study and analysis of CHL.</p> </div

The schematic sketch of the experiment setup.

<p>Monochromatic synchrotron x-ray beam is projected on a sample mounted on a rotation sample stage, and the transmitted beam is recorded by an image detector. For tomographic scans, the samples can be rotated within 180° to record the projection images at different angles.</p

A planar x-ray image of the CHL sample.

<p>The hepatic sinusoids are clearly detected, but all of them are overlapped with each other.</p

Illustrative presentation of the hepatic microcirculation system.

<p>The blue lines indicate the venous blood, the red lines indicate arterial blood, and the brown lines indicate the mixed blood. The blood is mixed in the hepatic sinusoids, where the metabolic activity and exchange of nutrients, oxygen etc. with the hepatocytes takes place.</p

The statistics of the quantitative measurements shown in Figure S1.

<p>The mean values and standard deviations of the maximum and minimum diameters of the hepatic sinusoids are presented in (A), and the corresponding values of surface areas and the volumes are shown in (B).</p

The thrombus in a hepatic sinusoid.

<p>The inner red part pointed by arrow is a thrombus. The outer transparent part is the wall of the hepatic sinusoid.</p

The CT image and histological section.

<p>(A) One slice of ILPCI-CT reconstruction images. (B) Histological section of the same CHL sample as in (A) (HE staining. Original magnification×40). (C) Histological section of a normal human liver (HE staining. Original magnification×40).</p

The schematic sketch of the image reconstruction and 3D visualization.

<p>The CT reconstruction was performed after the dark-field and flat-field corrections. Then, 3D visualization of CHL presented high-resolution morphology of the hepatic sinusoids, and the hepatic sinusoid was segmented to allow morphologic and quantitative assessment.</p

Additional file 1 of A clinical radiomics nomogram preoperatively to predict ductal carcinoma in situ with microinvasion in women with biopsy-confirmed ductal carcinoma in situ: a preliminary study

Additional file 1: Appendix Table 1. The primary features extracted in each model in predicting DCISMI