Respiratory and cardiac gated micro-CT imaging of a beating mouse heart under the free-breathing setting. Images were taken at 0ms, 25ms, and 55ms off the R peak from a single C57BL/6 mouse, and data were acquired using a dynamic micro-CT scanner based on a carbon nanotube field emission micro-focus x-ray source.
Mouse heart during expansion and contraction. The scanning parameters were 50kVp, 2mA, 15ms pulse width, and 400 views over 200° at a step angle of 0.5°. These images represent 76µm sections taken at the same slice locations from the 3D volumes reconstructed at each time point. The voxel spacing in-plane is also 76µm. The major anatomic structures of the cardiopulmonary vascular system are readily identified in the contrast-enhanced images. All images have the same display window and level. The AO, LV, and RV are labeled for reference.
Surface renderings of a mouse lung and trachea in inspiration (a) and expiration (b), and reformatted coronal images of the mouse lung during peak-inspiration (c) and full-expiration (d). Changes in the shape and dimensions of the lungs can be easily appreciated.