Phase-Contrast X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography for Enhanced 3D Microstructural Analysis of Bone and Joint Tissues

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Activities of daily living for millions of Canadians are painfully affected by altered or disrupted bone and joint tissue mechanics from aging, injury, and disease. These changes often occur in the complex microstructure of hard (e.g., bone) and soft (e.g., cartilage) tissues. Our team of researchers at the University of Waterloo are leading innovative biomedical engineering research programs to better understand bone and joint tissue mechanics, with new discoveries leading to improved tools and devices for injury prevention, rehabilitation, and repair. However, our research is constrained by available micro-computed tomography (µCT) imaging equipment for non-destructive microstructural analysis of bone and joint tissues. Microstructural imaging of biological tissues with traditional µCT equipment is commonly hindered by poor image quality (e.g., contrast, distortion, noise) at important tissue boundaries as well as long scanning times (1-5+ hours), which limits our ability to make important distinctions about the tissue architecture, integrity, and response to mechanical loading. Our group of researchers have requested funding for a new type of µCT imaging system that uses unique phase-contrast X-ray technology to better resolve biological tissue microstructure and composition more quickly and more accurately. The phase-contrast X-ray technology enables near real-time microstructural imaging, at much greater efficiency (100x) than traditional µCT imaging systems. Currently, there are no existing research facilities in Canada with access to phase-contrast X-ray µCT imaging for biological tissue characterization, making the proposed equipment a national first. With phase-contrast X-ray µCT imaging we will achieve crucial new understanding of biological tissue mechanics, including microstructural geometry, composition, and tolerance of hard and soft tissues. The proposed equipment significantly improves image contrast of low-density materials like soft biological tissues and novel biomaterials, which to date has been a major limitation with traditional µCT imaging. Further, the near real-time imaging provided by phase-contrast X-ray µCT will enable, for the first time, more accurate and efficient characterization experiments of progressive changes in biological tissue microstructure under different loading conditions. With this equipment Canada will continue international leadership in biomedical engineering research, demonstrating a new transformative technology for biological tissue characterization that addresses shortcomings with current equipment as well as knowledge gaps in bone and joint tissue mechanics. Nearly 20 trainees are expected to use this equipment in the first year, providing them marketable, cutting-edge skills in medical imaging, image processing, computational modeling and machine learning, highly sought after by the growing number of biomedical companies in the nearby Toronto-Waterloo innovation corridor.