Albira ct system

CT scan images of the individual filaments were acquired using an Albira CT system (Bruker, Billerica, MA, USA). The X-ray source settings were a 400 μA current at a 45 kV voltage with a 0.5 mm aluminum filter in the X-ray path for hardening. Circular scans of the filaments were taken with 400 projections per scan and a field of view (FOV) of 64 mm, and reconstructed with a 250 µm isotropic voxel size using the Albira Suite 5.0 Reconstructor, with “Filtered Back Projection” (FBP) algorithm calibrated to output data in Hounsfield Units (HU). Following the scan, data was opened in its native microPET file format and opened with PMOD software for further analysis.

The microCT experiments were conducted using an Albira CT System (Bruker Xtreme In Vivo Imaging system, Billerica, MA, USA) in the Notre Dame Integrated Imaging Facility as previously described^{56 (link)}. Mice were first anesthetized with isoflurane (2.5% flow rate) prior to imaging. Scans of the mice were performed with a FOV of 160 mm at low dose CT intensity (0.2 mA) and a high CT voltage (45 kVp).