Evaluating the microstructure of human brain tissues using synchrotron radiation-based micro-computed tomography

Minimally invasive deep brain neurosurgical interventions require a profound knowledge of the morphology of the human brain. Generic brain atlases are based on histology including multiple preparation steps during the sectioning and staining. In order to correct the distortions induced in the anisotropic, inhomogeneous soft matter and therefore improve the accuracy of brain atlases, a non-destructive 3D imaging technique with the required spatial and density resolution is of great significance. Micro computed tomography provides true micrometer resolution. The application to post mortem human brain, however, is questionable because the differences of the components concerning X-ray absorption are weak. Therefore, magnetic resonance tomography has become the method of choice for three-dimensional imaging of human brain. Because the spatial resolution of this method is limited, an alternative has to be found for the three-dimensional imaging of cellular microstructures within the brain. Therefore, the present study relies on the synchrotron radiationbased micro computed tomography in the recently developed grating-based phase contrast mode. Using data acquired at the beamline ID 19 (ESRF, Grenoble, France) we demonstrate that grating-based tomography yields premium images of human thalamus, which can be used for the correction of histological distortions by 3D non-rigid registration.