Nondestructive X-ray tomography of brain tissue ultrastructure
journal contribution
posted on 2025-12-11, 14:23 authored by Carles Bosch, Tomas Aidukas, Mirko Holler, Alexandra Pacureanu, Elisabeth Müller, Christopher J Peddie, Yuxin Zhang, Phil Cook, Lucy Collinson, Oliver Bunk, Andreas Menzel, Manuel Guizar-Sicairos, Gabriel Aeppli, Ana Diaz, Adrian A Wanner, Andreas T SchaeferMaps of biological tissues at subcellular detail are key for understanding how organs function. X-ray nanotomography is a promising alternative to volume electron microscopy: it has the potential to nondestructively image millimeter-sized samples at ultrastructural resolution within a few days. A fundamental barrier is that the intense X-rays required for imaging also deform and disintegrate the tissue samples. Here we show a combination of solutions that overcome this barrier: We used a cryogenic and stable sample stage, tailored nonrigid tomographic reconstruction algorithms and an epoxy resin developed for the nuclear and aerospace industry. Tissue samples were resistant to radiation doses exceeding 1.15 × 10¹⁰ Gy, and sub-40 nm isotropic resolution allowed identifying axon bundles, dendrites and synapses in mouse brain tissue without physical sectioning. Using volume electron microscopy, we demonstrate that tissue ultrastructure remains intact after X-ray imaging. Together, this unlocks the potential of X-ray tomography for high-resolution tissue imaging.
