Ge locus ultra micro ct

Formalin-fixed bones were imaged using a Faxitron MX-20 digital x-ray system with a 24kV, 4-s exposure time for 2D analysis. For whole-body micro-CT imaging, formalin-fixed mouse skeletons were placed in a GE Locus Ultra Micro-CT (GE Medical Systems) and subjected to a 16-s Anatomical Scan Protocol (total of 680 images) at 80 kV, 70 mA, using a 0.15-mm Cu Filter, to achieve ∼150-µm resolution. The same machine was also used for live-mouse imaging at acquisition parameters 80 kV, 50 mA; 16-s anatomical scan; 154-µm isotropic voxels (total of 680 slices) and 3D rendered using Siemens Inveon. For high-resolution micro-CT imaging, fixed mouse legs were immobilized on 1.25% agarose. Specimens were scanned in 360° rotation using a Siemens Inveon Micro-CT high-resolution scanner (Siemens Medical Systems) with the x-ray source at 80 kVp and 0.5 μA. 3D micro-CT data were reconstructed at 13.5-µm resolution. Raw data processing was performed using ImageJ software (National Institutes of Health), and 3D isosurfaces were rendered using Microview software (GE Healthcare). Bone length was measured digitally with ImageJ.

At Day 1, 7, 14, 21, 28 after lung transplantation, mice were lightly anesthetized by isoflurane inhalation and microcomputer tomography (micro-CT) was taken using GE Locus Ultra Micro CT (GE Healthcare, London, Canada) with 4 s anatomical scans to cover the whole lung [31 (link)]. The allograft appearance on CT scan was assigned a grade based on the amount of consolidation: 0 = clear, 1 = minimal consolidation, 2 = mild consolidation, 3 = moderate consolidation, 4 = severe consolidation, 5 = complete consolidation (where the lung cannot be distinguished from the surrounding chest wall). The images where the outline of the lungs could be reliably defined were used for further volumetric analyses. The obtained images were analyzed using MicroView 2.2 software (GE Healthcare) to measure 3D lung volume, using the following approach: The outlines of each lung were traced from approximately 10 sections, from the apex to the basal portion of the lung region. The software generated a 3D region of interest by interpolating between each manually drawn region of interest, reconstructing a 3D volume containing the lung. The graft lung volume was then calculated by measuring the volume of this region of interest [31 (link)].