Fig. 2

Comparison of synchrotron phase contrast SRµCT scans at different resolutions and fields of view. (A) The volume shown on the left is a FFPE lung tissue block scanned at a voxel size of 4.5 µm. A cylindrical punch biopsy with a diameter of 4 mm was taken at the site marked in the volume on the left. On the right, said tissue cylinder is shown, scanned with a resolution of 2 µm. * marks a bronchoalveolar duct junction that, due to its unique shape, aids in correlating both scans and relocating one volume within the other. (B) A zoomed in view of the bronchoalveolar duct junction (*) in the 4 µm resolution scan is shown. While its continuation into the alveolar space is visible, single structures like continuous interalveolar septa cannot be imaged at this resolution. (C) A zoomed in view of the same bronchoalveolar duct junction (*) within the 2 µm biopsy cylinder scan. In direct comparison to (b), details are depicted more clearly and small structural tissue details, like alveolar entrance rings, are captured due to the higher resolution of the scan. (D) Detailed view of the alveolar entrance rings imaged in the 2 µm scan. Viewing the 3D rendering of the scan suggests that there is a connected network of these structures continuing inside the volume.