Abstract
This article describes apparatus to aid histological validation of magnetic resonance imaging studies of the human prostate. The apparatus includes a 3D-printed patient-specific mold that facilitates aligned in vivo and ex vivo imaging, in situ tissue fixation, and tissue sectioning with minimal organ deformation. The mold and a dedicated container include MRI-visible landmarks to enable consistent tissue positioning and minimize image registration complexity. The inclusion of high spatial resolution ex vivo imaging aids in registration of in vivo MRI and histopathology data.
Highlights
In practice there is usually no direct coordination of presurgical imaging methods and surgical specimen processing. This results in MRI slice planes usually having different plane orientation and plane spacing from the histology images with no clear correspondence between the two so that, at best, only a qualitative correlation of MRI and pathology data is feasible
The following points outline the method of imaging and construction of a patient-specific 3D-printed mold to optimize physical location of the prostate in in vivo MR images, ex vivo MR images, and histology images
The periprostatic fat, neurovascular bundles, seminal vesicles, distal urethral sphincter, and bladder were not included inside the contoured volume but provided useful information as to the extent of the prostate
Summary
Imaging provides valuable non-invasive information for diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. The current state of the art is multi-parametric MRI (mp-MRI) [1], even this lacks specificity and cannot provide reliable grading information. Advanced techniques [2, 3] show promise for probing cancer microstructure and may be more specific than conventional methods. Rigorous validation is needed to assess the current and potential value of such techniques in prostate cancer management. The current gold standard for validation is histological assessment of whole mount serial sectioned radical prostatectomy specimens, but comparing information from such disparate images presents several challenges. The apparatus allows for the collection of supplementary ex vivo MR data for both the fresh unfixed and the fixed prostate specimen
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