What is the new WG: Tomography of Biological Samples about? We ask Martin BecH
LINXS asked Martin Bech, researcher at Medical Radiation Physics at Lund University, to explain what the recently started Working Group (WG), Tomography of Biological Samples is about.
What do you want to do in your new WG?
The intention of this workgroup is to spread the word in the biomedical community, that synchrotron based Tomography of Biological Samples can bridge the gap between preclinical microCT and microMRI on one hand, and histology/electron microscopy on the other hand.
We (the WG members) have all been active for several years, doing synchrotron based Tomography of Biological Samples. As there are many experiences to share, we thought that the time was ripe to establish a WG under LINXS with the focus on Tomography of Biological Samples.
What research needs are you responding to?
In biomedical and preclinical research, there is a strong tradition for imaging. However, many preclinical researchers are not aware of the potentials of 3D microscopy (also known as virtual histology) that synchrotron radiation provides. Many areas of biomedical research can benefit from synchrotron scanning of e.g. samples already existing in the biobank. Further, the high flux at synchrotron sources allows for fast in-vivo imaging of small animal models.
What do you think is most exciting about the research area?
The ability to extend histology to 3D volumes, do visualisations, quantifications and morphological studies, can potentially be useful in any branch of medical research. In particular imaging of neuronal networks, micro vasculature, and other micrometer sized features can help us to get a better understanding of e.g. musculoskeletal tissues, the respiratory system, peripheral nerves, brain and vascular system, amyloid disseases, cancer and metabolic diseases, fibrosis or diabetes. These are the different areas on which the WG will focus on to begin with, reflecting the research we have already engaged in.
How can LINXS contribute?
LINXS is the perfect platform for hosting workgroup meetings and arranging proposal writing sessions and data analysis hackathons for new and existing users.
The WG Tomography of Biological Samples falls under the theme Imaging.
About the WG Tomography of Biological Samples
Passing from morphology to function is one of the most important challenges that the biomedical community nowadays confronts. Scientists working with biological tissue are most often using visible light microscopy to inspect the samples. The passage from the classical visible light microscopy to tomographic methods should not be described as a simple change of tools. The rapid evolution and the complexity of tomographic methods, deriving from the extensive use of numerical methods and the diversity of beam lights, demands a tight collaboration between biomedical scientists, image analysts, physicists and engineers.
Biological tissues can be studied in two different conditions: ex-vivo and in-vivo, both posing peculiar issues that need to be addressed. In both cases, preservation of their structure during imaging is mandatory. Nonetheless, this is not only a problem of simple preservation of the material. In fact, this already poses an interdisciplinary problem: the interaction between the biological tissue and the type/duration of incident beam. Moreover, the evaluation of tomographic scans requires often competence in mathematical image analysis that exceed the competences of biomedical scientists. In-vivo samples pose an even higher level of challenges. They regard A) the motion of the living parts (hence the necessity of developing solutions for tracking and registering parts of the images), B) the building of different instrument set-ups with life-support for living samples, ranging from simple cell solutions to an entire animal under general anaesthesia.
Martin Bech, researcher at Medical Radiation Physics at Lund University, and member of the WG Tomography of Biological Samples.