Scopel Jonas Francisco, de Souza Queiroz Luciano, O'Dowd Francis Pierce, Júnior Marcondes Cavalcante França, Nucci Anamarli, Hönnicke Marcelo Gonçalves
Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Jataí, Goiás, 75804-020, Brazil.
Departamento de Anatomia Patológica, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-887, Brazil.
PLoS One. 2015 Mar 10;10(3):e0116831. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116831. eCollection 2015.
Diagnostic imaging techniques play an important role in assessing the exact location, cause, and extent of a nerve lesion, thus allowing clinicians to diagnose and manage more effectively a variety of pathological conditions, such as entrapment syndromes, traumatic injuries, and space-occupying lesions. Ultrasound and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging are becoming useful methods for this purpose, but they still lack spatial resolution. In this regard, recent phase contrast x-ray imaging experiments of peripheral nerve allowed the visualization of each nerve fiber surrounded by its myelin sheath as clearly as optical microscopy. In the present study, we attempted to produce high-resolution x-ray phase contrast images of a human sciatic nerve by using synchrotron radiation propagation-based imaging. The images showed high contrast and high spatial resolution, allowing clear identification of each fascicle structure and surrounding connective tissue. The outstanding result is the detection of such structures by phase contrast x-ray tomography of a thick human sciatic nerve section. This may further enable the identification of diverse pathological patterns, such as Wallerian degeneration, hypertrophic neuropathy, inflammatory infiltration, leprosy neuropathy and amyloid deposits. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first successful phase contrast x-ray imaging experiment of a human peripheral nerve sample. Our long-term goal is to develop peripheral nerve imaging methods that could supersede biopsy procedures.
诊断成像技术在评估神经病变的确切位置、病因和范围方面发挥着重要作用，从而使临床医生能够更有效地诊断和处理各种病理状况，如卡压综合征、创伤性损伤和占位性病变。超声和核磁共振成像正成为用于此目的的有用方法，但它们仍缺乏空间分辨率。在这方面，最近对外周神经进行的相衬X射线成像实验能够像光学显微镜一样清晰地显示被髓鞘包裹的每一根神经纤维。在本研究中，我们试图通过基于同步辐射传播的成像来生成人类坐骨神经的高分辨率X射线相衬图像。这些图像显示出高对比度和高空间分辨率，能够清晰地识别每一束 fascicle 结构和周围的结缔组织。突出的成果是通过对厚的人类坐骨神经切片进行相衬X射线断层扫描检测到了此类结构。这可能进一步有助于识别各种病理模式，如沃勒变性、肥厚性神经病、炎性浸润、麻风性神经病和淀粉样沉积。据我们所知，这是首次对人类外周神经样本成功进行的相衬X射线成像实验。我们的长期目标是开发能够取代活检程序的外周神经成像方法。
