Figure 2.

Multi-scale imaging and analysis of cardiac tissue. (A) Schematic representation of multi-scale synchrotron-based acquisition pipeline. Synchrotrons generate coherent and brilliant X-ray beams, whose energy can be selected with a monochromator. The X-ray beam is then controlled and shaped by a shutter and slits to minimize the radiation deposited on the sample. After interacting with the rotating sample, X-rays are first detected by a low-resolution microscope. Then, regions of interested will be selected from such low-resolution scan and the microscope will be automatically displaced to allow measurements with a high-resolution microscope, thus achieving multi-scale imaging without sample manipulation; (B) diagram showing the multi-scale quantitative image analysis. Low-resolution data is used to extract information on the macro-structure of the heart, such as the trabeculations, vasculature or myocyte orientation. High-resolution data is, in turn, used to analyze micro-structural components such as the collagen matrix, micro-vasculature or even individual myocytes.