Micro-computed tomography: A novel diagnostic technique for the evaluation of gastrointestinal specimens

Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is a non-destructive modality that can be used to obtain high-resolution three-dimensional (3 D) images of the whole sample tissue; the usefulness of micro-CT has been reported for evaluation of breast cancer and lung cancer. However, this novel diagnostic technique has never been used for evaluating endoscopically resected gastrointestinal specimens. In the present study, we scanned 13 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks of a normal human colon and gastric tissue samples using micro-CT. The evaluation comprised a comparison of the acquired whole block images with the images of the corresponding cross-sectional slice of the hematoxylin and eosin-stained slide. Micro-CT was able to produce images of the whole sample and clearly depict tissues such as glandular structures, muscularis mucosae, and blood vessels in the FFPE tissue blocks of normal gastrointestinal samples. Furthermore, the 3 D reconstructed could be used to create a cross-sectional image and reflected the surface structure of samples obtained from any site. Micro-CT has the potential to become a highly promising pathological diagnostic assistance tool for endoscopically resected gastrointestinal specimens in combination with conventional microscopic examination.