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Orellana F, Grassi A, Hlushchuk R, Wahl P, Nuss KM, Neels A, Zaffagnini S, Parrilli A. Revealing the complexity of meniscus microvasculature through 3D visualization and analysis. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10875. [PMID: 38740845 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61497-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Three-dimensional information is essential for a proper understanding of the healing potential of the menisci and their overall role in the knee joint. However, to date, the study of meniscal vascularity has relied primarily on two-dimensional imaging techniques. Here we present a method to elucidate the intricate 3D meniscal vascular network, revealing its spatial arrangement, connectivity and density. A polymerizing contrast agent was injected into the femoral artery of human cadaver legs, and the meniscal microvasculature was examined using micro-computed tomography at different levels of detail and resolution. The 3D vascular network was quantitatively assessed in a zone-base analysis using parameters such as diameter, length, tortuosity, and branching patterns. The results of this study revealed distinct vascular patterns within the meniscus, with the highest vascular volume found in the outer perimeniscal zone. Variations in vascular parameters were found between the different circumferential and radial meniscal zones. Moreover, through state-of-the-art 3D visualization using micro-CT, this study highlighted the importance of spatial resolution in accurately characterizing the vascular network. These findings, both from this study and from future research using this technique, improve our understanding of microvascular distribution, which may lead to improved therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Orellana
- Center for X-Ray Analytics, Empa-Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
- Department of Chemistry, University of Fribourg, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Alberto Grassi
- IRCCS-Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, 40136, Bologna, Italy
| | - Ruslan Hlushchuk
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Peter Wahl
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
- Cantonal Hospital Winterthur, 8401, Winterthur, Switzerland
| | - Katja M Nuss
- Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Antonia Neels
- Center for X-Ray Analytics, Empa-Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
- Department of Chemistry, University of Fribourg, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | | | - Annapaola Parrilli
- Center for X-Ray Analytics, Empa-Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
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Duan X, Li N, Cooper DML, Ding XF, Chen X, Zhu N. Low-density tissue scaffold imaging by synchrotron radiation propagation-based imaging computed tomography with helical acquisition mode. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2023; 30:417-429. [PMID: 36891855 PMCID: PMC10000810 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577523000772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Visualization of low-density tissue scaffolds made from hydrogels is important yet challenging in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM). For this, synchrotron radiation propagation-based imaging computed tomography (SR-PBI-CT) has great potential, but is limited due to the ring artifacts commonly observed in SR-PBI-CT images. To address this issue, this study focuses on the integration of SR-PBI-CT and helical acquisition mode (i.e. SR-PBI-HCT) to visualize hydrogel scaffolds. The influence of key imaging parameters on the image quality of hydrogel scaffolds was investigated, including the helical pitch (p), photon energy (E) and the number of acquisition projections per rotation/revolution (Np), and, on this basis, those parameters were optimized to improve image quality and to reduce noise level and artifacts. The results illustrate that SR-PBI-HCT imaging shows impressive advantages in avoiding ring artifacts with p = 1.5, E = 30 keV and Np = 500 for the visualization of hydrogel scaffolds in vitro. Furthermore, the results also demonstrate that hydrogel scaffolds can be visualized using SR-PBI-HCT with good contrast while at a low radiation dose, i.e. 342 mGy (voxel size of 26 µm, suitable for in vivo imaging). This paper presents a systematic study on hydrogel scaffold imaging using SR-PBI-HCT and the results reveal that SR-PBI-HCT is a powerful tool for visualizing and characterizing low-density scaffolds with a high image quality in vitro. This work represents a significant advance toward the non-invasive in vivo visualization and characterization of hydrogel scaffolds at a suitable radiation dose.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoman Duan
- Division of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
| | - Naitao Li
- Division of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
| | - David M. L. Cooper
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
| | - Xiao Fan Ding
- Division of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
| | - Xiongbiao Chen
- Division of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
| | - Ning Zhu
- Division of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
- Canadian Light Source, Saskatoon, SK S7N 2V3, Canada
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Quality control methods in musculoskeletal tissue engineering: from imaging to biosensors. Bone Res 2021; 9:46. [PMID: 34707086 PMCID: PMC8551153 DOI: 10.1038/s41413-021-00167-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Revised: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Tissue engineering is rapidly progressing toward clinical application. In the musculoskeletal field, there has been an increasing necessity for bone and cartilage replacement. Despite the promising translational potential of tissue engineering approaches, careful attention should be given to the quality of developed constructs to increase the real applicability to patients. After a general introduction to musculoskeletal tissue engineering, this narrative review aims to offer an overview of methods, starting from classical techniques, such as gene expression analysis and histology, to less common methods, such as Raman spectroscopy, microcomputed tomography, and biosensors, that can be employed to assess the quality of constructs in terms of viability, morphology, or matrix deposition. A particular emphasis is given to standards and good practices (GXP), which can be applicable in different sectors. Moreover, a classification of the methods into destructive, noninvasive, or conservative based on the possible further development of a preimplant quality monitoring system is proposed. Biosensors in musculoskeletal tissue engineering have not yet been used but have been proposed as a novel technology that can be exploited with numerous advantages, including minimal invasiveness, making them suitable for the development of preimplant quality control systems.
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FERNÁNDEZ MPEÑA, WITTE F, TOZZI G. Applications of X‐ray computed tomography for the evaluation of biomaterial‐mediated bone regeneration in critical‐sized defects. J Microsc 2020; 277:179-196. [DOI: 10.1111/jmi.12844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2019] [Revised: 10/06/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. PEÑA FERNÁNDEZ
- Zeiss Global Centre, School of Mechanical and Design EngineeringUniversity of Portsmouth Portsmouth UK
| | - F. WITTE
- Biotrics Bioimplants GmbH Berlin Germany
| | - G. TOZZI
- Zeiss Global Centre, School of Mechanical and Design EngineeringUniversity of Portsmouth Portsmouth UK
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Bajcsy P, Yoon S, Florczyk SJ, Hotaling NA, Simon M, Szczypinski PM, Schaub NJ, Simon CG, Brady M, Sriram RD. Modeling, validation and verification of three-dimensional cell-scaffold contacts from terabyte-sized images. BMC Bioinformatics 2017; 18:526. [PMID: 29183290 PMCID: PMC5706418 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-017-1928-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Accepted: 11/06/2017] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Cell-scaffold contact measurements are derived from pairs of co-registered volumetric fluorescent confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) images (z-stacks) of stained cells and three types of scaffolds (i.e., spun coat, large microfiber, and medium microfiber). Our analysis of the acquired terabyte-sized collection is motivated by the need to understand the nature of the shape dimensionality (1D vs 2D vs 3D) of cell-scaffold interactions relevant to tissue engineers that grow cells on biomaterial scaffolds. Results We designed five statistical and three geometrical contact models, and then down-selected them to one from each category using a validation approach based on physically orthogonal measurements to CLSM. The two selected models were applied to 414 z-stacks with three scaffold types and all contact results were visually verified. A planar geometrical model for the spun coat scaffold type was validated from atomic force microscopy images by computing surface roughness of 52.35 nm ±31.76 nm which was 2 to 8 times smaller than the CLSM resolution. A cylindrical model for fiber scaffolds was validated from multi-view 2D scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The fiber scaffold segmentation error was assessed by comparing fiber diameters from SEM and CLSM to be between 0.46% to 3.8% of the SEM reference values. For contact verification, we constructed a web-based visual verification system with 414 pairs of images with cells and their segmentation results, and with 4968 movies with animated cell, scaffold, and contact overlays. Based on visual verification by three experts, we report the accuracy of cell segmentation to be 96.4% with 94.3% precision, and the accuracy of cell-scaffold contact for a statistical model to be 62.6% with 76.7% precision and for a geometrical model to be 93.5% with 87.6% precision. Conclusions The novelty of our approach lies in (1) representing cell-scaffold contact sites with statistical intensity and geometrical shape models, (2) designing a methodology for validating 3D geometrical contact models and (3) devising a mechanism for visual verification of hundreds of 3D measurements. The raw and processed data are publicly available from https://isg.nist.gov/deepzoomweb/data/ together with the web -based verification system. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12859-017-1928-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Bajcsy
- Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
| | - Soweon Yoon
- Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.,Dakota Consulting Inc, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Stephen J Florczyk
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.,Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
| | - Nathan A Hotaling
- National Eye Institute, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Mylene Simon
- Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | | | - Nicholas J Schaub
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Carl G Simon
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Mary Brady
- Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Ram D Sriram
- Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
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Affatato S, Zanini F, Carmignato S. Micro X-Ray Computed Tomography Mass Loss Assessment of Different UHMWPE: A Hip Joint Simulator Study on Standard vs. Cross-Linked Polyethylene. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0170263. [PMID: 28107468 PMCID: PMC5249200 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 12/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
More than 60.000 hip arthroplasty are performed every year in Italy. Although Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight-Polyethylene remains the most used material as acetabular cup, wear of this material induces over time in vivo a foreign-body response and consequently osteolysis, pain, and the need of implant revision. Furthermore, oxidative wear of the polyethylene provoke several and severe failures. To solve these problems, highly cross-linked polyethylene and Vitamin-E-stabilized polyethylene were introduced in the last years. In in vitro experiments, various efforts have been made to compare the wear behavior of standard PE and vitamin-E infused liners. In this study we compared the in vitro wear behavior of two different configurations of cross-linked polyethylene (with and without the add of Vitamin E) vs. the standard polyethylene acetabular cups. The aim of the present study was to validate a micro X-ray computed tomography technique to assess the wear of different commercially available, polyethylene's acetabular cups after wear simulation; in particular, the gravimetric method was used to provide reference wear values. The agreement between the two methods is documented in this paper.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saverio Affatato
- Medical Technology Laboratory, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna—Italy
| | - Filippo Zanini
- Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza—Italy
| | - Simone Carmignato
- Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza—Italy
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Is micro-computed tomography useful for wear assessment of ceramic femoral heads? A preliminary evaluation of volume measurements. J Appl Biomater Funct Mater 2016; 14:e483-e489. [PMID: 27647391 DOI: 10.5301/jabfm.5000324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Wear associated with hip components represents the main clinical problem in these patients, and it is important to develop new techniques for more accurate measurements of that wear. Currently, the gravimetric method is the gold standard for assessing mass measurements in preclinical evaluations. However, this method does not give other information such as volumetric loss or surface deviation. This work aimed to develop and validate a new technique to quantify ceramic volume loss from in vitro experiments using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). METHODS An alumina (BIOLOX® forte) femoral head (Ø = 28 mm) was used. Mass and volume loss were approached by gravimetric method (using a four decimal place digital microbalance) and by using Skyscan 1176 microtomographic system, respectively. RESULTS Standard error and coefficient of variance of both gravimetric and experimental groups demonstrated the reliability of the micro-CT analysis technique. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggest that this new protocol could be considered an important tool for wear assessment and that we have found a reliable metrological protocol for volumetric analysis of ceramic femoral head prostheses, demonstrating that the micro-CT technique can be an important tool for wear assessment.
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Dynamics of nanoparticle diffusion and uptake in three-dimensional cell cultures. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2016; 149:7-15. [PMID: 27710850 DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2016.09.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2016] [Revised: 09/14/2016] [Accepted: 09/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
This study aims at elucidating the effect of three-dimensional (3D) extracellular matrix on cell behaviour and nanoparticle (NP) diffusion and its consequences on NP cellular uptake mechansims. For this purpose, human dermal fibroblasts (HDF) and human fibrosarcoma (HT1080) cell lines were grown within a 3D collagen gel and exposed to model polystyrene (PS) NPs of controlled size (44 and 100nm). Results indicate that, in 3D, cell morphology dramatically changes compared to standard 2D cultures and NP diffusion within the matrix is hampered by the interaction with the collagen fibres. As a consequence, NP cellular uptake, modeled with equations describing the stoichiometric exchange between NPs and cell membrane, is significantly slowed down in 3D and in the case of 100 nm NPs, in part due to the hampered diffusion of NPs in collagen gel compared to their transport in standard cell culture medium. Furthermore, our outcomes point at a significant contribution of the cytoskeleton assembly, in particular actin microfilaments, in governing the uptake of PS NPs in a 3D environment, and also that the macropinocytosis process is preserved and is mainly involved in the internalization of PS NPs in a 3D environment. However, depending on cell type and nanoparticle size, other endocytic pathways are also implicated when moving from 2D to 3D culture systems. This work highlights the importance of studying the nano-bio interaction in experimental models that resembles in vivo conditions in order to better predict the therapeutic efficacy of drug delivery systems.
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Image analysis of X-ray tomograms of sludge during convective drying in a pilot-scale fixed bed. Chem Eng Sci 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2015.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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