Breathtaking Sam Richardson, Toby JacksonAfter careful dissection from a rat, the left lobe of the lungs was fixed and imaged using a micro computed tomography system. This image is the result of stitching together 6 individual radiographs, showing the microstructure of the lungs airways. To obtain an initial estimate of the 3D shape of the lungs, after stereoscopic imaging, lungs were fixed and imaged using a Bruker SkyScan 1272, micro-CT scanner. Fixing was achieved by inflating the lungs with Glutaraldehyde, which effectively kills the living cells in the lung, leaving behind the cross-linked structural proteins. Tissue samples fixed in glutaraldehyde are extensively cross-linked, providing excellent ultrastructural stiffening that maintains the structure of the alveoli, enabling imaging with microCT.

Breathtaking
Sam Richardson, Toby Jackson

After careful dissection from a rat, the left lobe of the lungs was fixed and imaged using a micro computed tomography system. This image is the result of stitching together 6 individual radiographs, showing the microstructure of the lungs airways.

To obtain an initial estimate of the 3D shape of the lungs, after stereoscopic imaging, lungs were fixed and imaged using a Bruker SkyScan 1272, micro-CT scanner. Fixing was achieved by inflating the lungs with Glutaraldehyde, which effectively kills the living cells in the lung, leaving behind the cross-linked structural proteins. Tissue samples fixed in glutaraldehyde are extensively cross-linked, providing excellent ultrastructural stiffening that maintains the structure of the alveoli, enabling imaging with microCT.