Objective:

Determine whether phase-contrast virtual histology of articular cartilage can be satisfactorily performed using a lab source.

Background/Relevance:

Histological staining and slicing is currently the gold standard for measuring the progression of osteoarthritis in articular cartilage biopsies. Phase-contrast-enhanced X-ray tomography provides the promise of making these measurements in a less destructive manner, as well as expanding the results to three dimensions, but has this far only been performed with synchrotron sources.

Approach:

The candidate will image articular cartilage samples previously imaged at a synchrotron using a lab source of X-rays, with the goal of obtaining results comparable in quality by using longer imaging times.

Application:

Samples of human articular cartilage will be imaged using a lab source and phase-contrast enhancement. The resulting images will be compared both to previous synchrotron images as well as traditional histological images in order to determine if comparative results can be achieved.

a) Diagram of the knee joint. b) Photograph of existing human articular cartilage sample. c) Phase-contrast-enhanced synchrotron X-ray tomography slice of articular cartilage. d) Traditional histology slice of articular cartilage.

Student background:

Solid knowledge in image analysis as well as basic experience handling biological samples in the lab.

For more info, please contact: Biomechanics group, Hanna Isaksson, hanna.isaksson@bme.lth.se