Development of A Micro-CT Scanner with Dual-Energy Option and Endovascular Contrast Agent Administration Protocol for Fetal and Neonatal Virtual Autopsy
The rate of parental consent for fetal and perinatal autopsy is decreasing, whereas parents are more likely to agree to virtual autopsy by non-invasive imaging methods. Fetal and perinatal virtual autopsy needs high-resolution and good soft-tissue contrast for investigation of the cause of death and...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-02-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Imaging |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-433X/10/3/60 |
| _version_ | 1797240493208240128 |
|---|---|
| author | Robert Zboray Wolf Schweitzer Lars Ebert Martin Wolf Sabino Guglielmini Stefan Haemmerle Stephan Weiss Bruno Koller |
| author_facet | Robert Zboray Wolf Schweitzer Lars Ebert Martin Wolf Sabino Guglielmini Stefan Haemmerle Stephan Weiss Bruno Koller |
| author_sort | Robert Zboray |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The rate of parental consent for fetal and perinatal autopsy is decreasing, whereas parents are more likely to agree to virtual autopsy by non-invasive imaging methods. Fetal and perinatal virtual autopsy needs high-resolution and good soft-tissue contrast for investigation of the cause of death and underlying trauma or pathology in fetuses and stillborn infants. This is offered by micro-computed tomography (CT), as opposed to the limited resolution provided by clinical CT scanners, and this is one of the most promising tools for non-invasive perinatal postmortem imaging. We developed and optimized a micro-CT scanner with a dual-energy imaging option. It is dedicated to post-mortem CT angiography and virtual autopsy of fetuses and stillborn infants in that the chamber can be cooled down to around 5 °C; this increases tissue rigidity and slows decomposition of the native specimen. This, together with the dedicated gantry-based architecture, attempts to reduce potential motion artifacts. The developed methodology is based on prior endovascular injection of a BaSO<sub>4</sub>-based contrast agent. We explain the design choices and considerations for this scanner prototype. We give details of the treatment of the optimization of the dual-energy and virtual mono-energetic imaging option that has been based on minimizing noise propagation and maximizing the contrast-to-noise ratio for vascular features. We demonstrate the scanner capabilities with proof-of-concept experiments on phantoms and stillborn piglets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:08:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a1f3ae86ec074468a37bfa2745ab6f2b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2313-433X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:08:18Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Imaging |
| spelling | doaj.art-a1f3ae86ec074468a37bfa2745ab6f2b2024-03-27T13:48:51ZengMDPI AGJournal of Imaging2313-433X2024-02-011036010.3390/jimaging10030060Development of A Micro-CT Scanner with Dual-Energy Option and Endovascular Contrast Agent Administration Protocol for Fetal and Neonatal Virtual AutopsyRobert Zboray0Wolf Schweitzer1Lars Ebert2Martin Wolf3Sabino Guglielmini4Stefan Haemmerle5Stephan Weiss6Bruno Koller7Center for X-ray Analytics, Empa—Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, SwitzerlandZurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartments of the Zurich Forensic Science Institute, Forensisches Institut Zürich, 8010 Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment for Neonatology, University Hospital Zürich, 8091 Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment for Neonatology, University Hospital Zürich, 8091 Zurich, SwitzerlandSCANCO Medical AG, 8306 Brüttisellen, SwitzerlandSCANCO Medical AG, 8306 Brüttisellen, SwitzerlandSCANCO Medical AG, 8306 Brüttisellen, SwitzerlandThe rate of parental consent for fetal and perinatal autopsy is decreasing, whereas parents are more likely to agree to virtual autopsy by non-invasive imaging methods. Fetal and perinatal virtual autopsy needs high-resolution and good soft-tissue contrast for investigation of the cause of death and underlying trauma or pathology in fetuses and stillborn infants. This is offered by micro-computed tomography (CT), as opposed to the limited resolution provided by clinical CT scanners, and this is one of the most promising tools for non-invasive perinatal postmortem imaging. We developed and optimized a micro-CT scanner with a dual-energy imaging option. It is dedicated to post-mortem CT angiography and virtual autopsy of fetuses and stillborn infants in that the chamber can be cooled down to around 5 °C; this increases tissue rigidity and slows decomposition of the native specimen. This, together with the dedicated gantry-based architecture, attempts to reduce potential motion artifacts. The developed methodology is based on prior endovascular injection of a BaSO<sub>4</sub>-based contrast agent. We explain the design choices and considerations for this scanner prototype. We give details of the treatment of the optimization of the dual-energy and virtual mono-energetic imaging option that has been based on minimizing noise propagation and maximizing the contrast-to-noise ratio for vascular features. We demonstrate the scanner capabilities with proof-of-concept experiments on phantoms and stillborn piglets.https://www.mdpi.com/2313-433X/10/3/60fetal postmortem imagingvirtual autopsymicro-CTPMCTAdual-energy CT |
| spellingShingle | Robert Zboray Wolf Schweitzer Lars Ebert Martin Wolf Sabino Guglielmini Stefan Haemmerle Stephan Weiss Bruno Koller Development of A Micro-CT Scanner with Dual-Energy Option and Endovascular Contrast Agent Administration Protocol for Fetal and Neonatal Virtual Autopsy Journal of Imaging fetal postmortem imaging virtual autopsy micro-CT PMCTA dual-energy CT |
| title | Development of A Micro-CT Scanner with Dual-Energy Option and Endovascular Contrast Agent Administration Protocol for Fetal and Neonatal Virtual Autopsy |
| title_full | Development of A Micro-CT Scanner with Dual-Energy Option and Endovascular Contrast Agent Administration Protocol for Fetal and Neonatal Virtual Autopsy |
| title_fullStr | Development of A Micro-CT Scanner with Dual-Energy Option and Endovascular Contrast Agent Administration Protocol for Fetal and Neonatal Virtual Autopsy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of A Micro-CT Scanner with Dual-Energy Option and Endovascular Contrast Agent Administration Protocol for Fetal and Neonatal Virtual Autopsy |
| title_short | Development of A Micro-CT Scanner with Dual-Energy Option and Endovascular Contrast Agent Administration Protocol for Fetal and Neonatal Virtual Autopsy |
| title_sort | development of a micro ct scanner with dual energy option and endovascular contrast agent administration protocol for fetal and neonatal virtual autopsy |
| topic | fetal postmortem imaging virtual autopsy micro-CT PMCTA dual-energy CT |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-433X/10/3/60 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertzboray developmentofamicroctscannerwithdualenergyoptionandendovascularcontrastagentadministrationprotocolforfetalandneonatalvirtualautopsy AT wolfschweitzer developmentofamicroctscannerwithdualenergyoptionandendovascularcontrastagentadministrationprotocolforfetalandneonatalvirtualautopsy AT larsebert developmentofamicroctscannerwithdualenergyoptionandendovascularcontrastagentadministrationprotocolforfetalandneonatalvirtualautopsy AT martinwolf developmentofamicroctscannerwithdualenergyoptionandendovascularcontrastagentadministrationprotocolforfetalandneonatalvirtualautopsy AT sabinoguglielmini developmentofamicroctscannerwithdualenergyoptionandendovascularcontrastagentadministrationprotocolforfetalandneonatalvirtualautopsy AT stefanhaemmerle developmentofamicroctscannerwithdualenergyoptionandendovascularcontrastagentadministrationprotocolforfetalandneonatalvirtualautopsy AT stephanweiss developmentofamicroctscannerwithdualenergyoptionandendovascularcontrastagentadministrationprotocolforfetalandneonatalvirtualautopsy AT brunokoller developmentofamicroctscannerwithdualenergyoptionandendovascularcontrastagentadministrationprotocolforfetalandneonatalvirtualautopsy |