In vivo X-ray cine-tomography for tracking morphological dynamics

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 111; no. 11; pp. 3921 - 3926
• Main Authors: dos Santos Rolo, Tomy, Ershov, Alexey, van de Kamp, Thomas, Baumbach, Tilo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 18.03.2014; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Animals; Biological Sciences; Biotechnology; Cinematography; Femur; Hip; Hip joint; Imaging; Imaging, Three-Dimensional - methods; Joints; Joints - physiology; Joints - ultrastructure; Kinematics; Landmarks; Morphology; Physical Sciences; Pixels; Signal noise; Tomography; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods; Weevils; Weevils - physiology; Weevils - ultrastructure; X-Ray Microtomography - methods; in vivo imaging; motion tracking; screw joint; synchrotron
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1308650111

Scientific cinematography using ultrafast optical imaging is a common tool to study motion. In opaque organisms or structures, X-ray radiography captures sequences of 2D projections to visualize morphological dynamics, but for many applications full four-dimensional (4D) spatiotemporal information is highly desirable. We introduce in vivo X-ray cine-tomography as a 4D imaging technique developed to study real-time dynamics in small living organisms with micrometer spatial resolution and sub-second time resolution. The method enables insights into the physiology of small animals by tracking the 4D morphological dynamics of minute anatomical features as demonstrated in this work by the analysis of fast-moving screw-and-nut—type weevil hip joints. The presented method can be applied to a broad range of biological specimens and biotechnological processes.