Dizbay Sak Serpil, Sevim Selim, Buyuksungur Arda, Kayı Cangır Ayten, Orhan Kaan
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara 06230, Turkey.
Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Ankara University, Ankara 06560, Turkey.
Diagnostics (Basel). 2023 Oct 20;13(20):3262. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics13203262.
Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is a relatively new imaging modality and the three-dimensional (3D) images obtained via micro-CT allow researchers to collect both quantitative and qualitative information on various types of samples. Micro-CT could potentially be used to examine human diseases and several studies have been published on this topic in the last decade. In this study, the potential uses of micro-CT in understanding and evaluating lung carcinoma and the relevant studies conducted on lung and other tumors are summarized. Currently, the resolution of benchtop laboratory micro-CT units has not reached the levels that can be obtained with light microscopy, and it is not possible to detect the histopathological features (e.g., tumor type, adenocarcinoma pattern, spread through air spaces) required for lung cancer management. However, its ability to provide 3D images in any plane of section, without disturbing the integrity of the specimen, suggests that it can be used as an auxiliary technique, especially in surgical margin examination, the evaluation of tumor invasion in the entire specimen, and calculation of primary and metastatic tumor volume. Along with future developments in micro-CT technology, it can be expected that the image resolution will gradually improve, the examination time will decrease, and the relevant software will be more user friendly. As a result of these developments, micro-CT may enter pathology laboratories as an auxiliary method in the pathological evaluation of lung tumors. However, the safety, performance, and cost effectiveness of micro-CT in the areas of possible clinical application should be investigated. If micro-CT passes all these tests, it may lead to the convergence of radiology and pathology applications performed independently in separate units today, and the birth of a new type of diagnostician who has equal knowledge of the histological and radiological features of tumors.
微计算机断层扫描（micro-CT）是一种相对较新的成像方式，通过微CT获得的三维（3D）图像使研究人员能够收集各种类型样本的定量和定性信息。微CT有可能用于检查人类疾病，并且在过去十年中已经发表了几项关于该主题的研究。在本研究中，总结了微CT在理解和评估肺癌方面的潜在用途以及对肺癌和其他肿瘤进行的相关研究。目前，台式实验室微CT设备的分辨率尚未达到光学显微镜所能达到的水平，并且无法检测肺癌管理所需的组织病理学特征（例如肿瘤类型、腺癌模式、通过气腔扩散）。然而，它能够在不干扰标本完整性的情况下在任何截面平面上提供3D图像，这表明它可以用作辅助技术，特别是在手术切缘检查、整个标本中肿瘤侵袭的评估以及原发性和转移性肿瘤体积的计算方面。随着微CT技术的未来发展，可以预期图像分辨率将逐渐提高，检查时间将减少，并且相关软件将更加用户友好。由于这些发展，微CT可能作为一种辅助方法进入病理实验室，用于肺肿瘤的病理评估。然而，应研究微CT在可能的临床应用领域的安全性、性能和成本效益。如果微CT通过所有这些测试，它可能导致如今在不同单位独立进行的放射学和病理学应用的融合，并诞生一种对肿瘤的组织学和放射学特征具有同等知识的新型诊断医生。
