Visualization research of three-dimensional microstructure of rabbit sciatic nerve bundles by micro-CT

Abstract

To realize the visualization of three-dimensional microstructure of rabbit sciatic nerve bundles by micro-CT and three-dimensional visualization software Mimics17.0. The sciatic nerve tissues from 6 New Zealand rabbits were divided into 2 groups ( n=3), and the sciatic nerve tissues were stained by 1% (group A) and 5% (group B) Lugol solution respectively. After staining for 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5 hours, the imaging changes of specimens were observed by light microscope and micro-CT. The clear micro-CT images were exported to the Mimics software to complete the visualization of three-dimensional microstructure of rabbit sciatic nerve according to three-dimensional reconstruction tool. The clear three-dimensional microstructure images could be observed in group A at 2.5 hours after staining and in group B at 1.5 hours after staining by light microscope and micro-CT. The sciatic nerve of New Zealand rabbits were divides into 3 bundles and each of them was relatively fixed. There was no obvious crossing or mergers between each bundle. The cross-sectional area of each bundle was (0.425±0.013), (0.038±0.007), and (0.242±0.026) mm 2 respectively. The digital model could clearly reflect the microstructure of the sciatic nerve at all cross sections. The internal structure of New Zealand rabbits sciatic nerve can be clearly reflected by micro-CT scanning. It provides a reliable method for establishing a nerve microstructure database with large amount specimens.