Quantifying mesoscale neuroanatomy using X-ray microtomography
This work addresses the need for faster, non-destructive brain mapping techniques in neuroscience, offering a complementary tool for mesoscale neuroanatomy, though it is incremental as it builds on existing X-ray imaging methods.
The authors tackled the problem of mapping brain microstructure by developing a pipeline using synchrotron X-ray microtomography to image millimeter-scale mouse brain volumes at 1 μm³ resolution without sectioning, enabling rapid quantification of cells and blood vessels. Their results show that this method complements existing brain mapping efforts by providing large-scale 3D data efficiently.
Methods for resolving the 3D microstructure of the brain typically start by thinly slicing and staining the brain, and then imaging each individual section with visible light photons or electrons. In contrast, X-rays can be used to image thick samples, providing a rapid approach for producing large 3D brain maps without sectioning. Here we demonstrate the use of synchrotron X-ray microtomography ($μ$CT) for producing mesoscale $(1~μm^3)$ resolution brain maps from millimeter-scale volumes of mouse brain. We introduce a pipeline for $μ$CT-based brain mapping that combines methods for sample preparation, imaging, automated segmentation of image volumes into cells and blood vessels, and statistical analysis of the resulting brain structures. Our results demonstrate that X-ray tomography promises rapid quantification of large brain volumes, complementing other brain mapping and connectomics efforts.