Applications of Micro-CT scanning in medicine and dentistry: Microstructural analyses of a Wistar Rat mandible and a urinary tract stone

Abstract

High-resolution tomographic imaging by means of x-ray micro-computed tomography (µCT) has been widely utilized for morphological evaluations in dentistry and medicine. The use of µCT follows a standard procedure: image acquisition, reconstruction, processing, evaluation using image analysis, and reporting of results. This paper discusses methods of µCT using a specific scanning device, the Bruker SkyScan 1173 High Energy Micro-CT. We present a description of the general workflow, information on terminology for the measured parameters and corresponding units, and further analyses that can potentially be conducted with this technology. Brief qualitative and quantitative analyses, including basic image processing (VOI selection and thresholding) and measurement of several morphometrical variables (total VOI volume, object volume, percentage of total volume, total VOI surface, object surface, object surface/volume ratio, object surface density, structure thickness, structure separation, total porosity) were conducted on two samples, the mandible of a wistar rat and a urinary tract stone, to illustrate the abilities of this device and its accompanying software package. The results of these analyses for both samples are reported, along with a discussion of the types of analyses that are possible using digital images obtained with a µCT scanning device, paying particular attention to non-diagnostic ex vivo research applications.