Tiam Mana Saffari

77 OBJECTIVE EVALUATION OF ANGIOGENESIS USING MICRO CT AND PHOTOGRAPHY 4 RESULTS Macroscopic appearance of the vessels in nerve samples Successful preservation of vasculature was achieved in all nerve samples (N=24). After the clearing process, the nerve samples were transparent and vessels were filled with Microfil®. For 3D imaging, the micro CT was used and allowed visualization of the vessels in space (Figure 2). The size and position of the vessels were visualized. Figure 3 shows the macroscopic images of the nerve autografts at 12 and 16 weeks and a control sample at 12 weeks obtained with a conventional digital camera. Sutures are clearly visible and were used to set the borders of the analysis frame. As demonstrated, the microvasculature was clearly visualized. The smallest diameter of blood vessels detected was 9.3 μm using micro CT and 7.4 μm using conventional photography. Figure 2. Micro computed tomography (micro CT) images of nerve samples. Micro CT images of control nerve at 12 weeks (A), nerve autograft at 12 weeks (B) and nerve autograft at 16 weeks (C). Nerve samples are positioned from proximal to distal (left to right, respectively). Scale bar is set a 1 millimeters (mm).