Figure 4.

Hybrid visualization of conventional 2D histology slide and 3D X-ray histology image data. Control tissue (left panel) and tissue from a patient with interstitial lung disease [idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF); right panel]. Subsections (red boxed areas: 2.4 × 2.4 mm) of the tissue imaged by μCT were extracted, and cubic subvolumes (blue boxed areas: 1.2 × 1.2 × 1.2 mm) were rendered that protrude above this surface. Coregistered 2D histology sections are placed on top of the rendered μCT cubes at their correct tissue depth, highlighting the capability to combine or fuse conventional 2D histology slides and 3D X-ray histology data. 3D alveolar structure in control lung (left panel) can be directly compared with microstructural changes induced by IPF (right panel).