The possibilities of studying human embryos and foetuses using micro-CT: a technical note

The purpose of the study was to discover a way to study the internal structure and evolution of human embryos noninvasively. The human embryo was stained with phosphotungstic acid solution (PTA) in ethanol (EPTA) and scanned using a micro computed tomography (micro-CT) scanner. Using appropriate software, a three-dimensional image of the embryo was created, which could be further exploited. The methodology described could be used for the non-destructive examination of the internal structure of the human embryo, and the resulting data can be used as a resource for medical students, gynaecologists, and paediatricians.

[1]  Neil J Sebire,et al.  Post-mortem MRI versus conventional autopsy in fetuses and children: a prospective validation study , 2013, The Lancet.

[2]  O. Arthurs,et al.  Post-mortem MRI as an alternative to non-forensic autopsy in foetuses and children: from research into clinical practice. , 2014, The British journal of radiology.

[3]  B. Metscher.  MicroCT for comparative morphology: simple staining methods allow high-contrast 3D imaging of diverse non-mineralized animal tissues , 2009, BMC Physiology.

[4]  M. Paley,et al.  Post-mortem MRI as an adjunct to fetal or neonatal autopsy , 2005, The Lancet.

[5]  Sufian Zaheer,et al.  Foetal autopsy-categories and causes of death. , 2014, Journal of clinical and diagnostic research : JCDR.

[6]  Neil J Sebire,et al.  Post-mortem examination of human fetuses: a comparison of whole-body high-field MRI at 9·4 T with conventional MRI and invasive autopsy , 2009, The Lancet.

[7]  B. Metscher.  MicroCT for developmental biology: A versatile tool for high‐contrast 3D imaging at histological resolutions , 2009, Developmental dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists.

[8]  Leonhard Held,et al.  Minimally invasive, imaging guided virtual autopsy compared to conventional autopsy in foetal, newborn and infant cases: study protocol for the paediatric virtual autopsy trial , 2014, BMC Pediatrics.

[9]  G. Cattoretti,et al.  Postmortem microcomputed tomography (micro‐CT) of small fetuses and hearts , 2014, Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

[10]  P D Griffiths,et al.  Post-mortem fetal MRI: what do we learn from it? , 2006, European journal of radiology.