TY - JOUR AU - Metscher, Brian D. PY - 2009 DA - 2009/06/22 TI - MicroCT for comparative morphology: simple staining methods allow high-contrast 3D imaging of diverse non-mineralized animal tissues JO - BMC Physiology SP - 11 VL - 9 IS - 1 AB - Comparative, functional, and developmental studies of animal morphology require accurate visualization of three-dimensional structures, but few widely applicable methods exist for non-destructive whole-volume imaging of animal tissues. Quantitative studies in particular require accurately aligned and calibrated volume images of animal structures. X-ray microtomography (microCT) has the potential to produce quantitative 3D images of small biological samples, but its widespread use for non-mineralized tissues has been limited by the low x-ray contrast of soft tissues. Although osmium staining and a few other techniques have been used for contrast enhancement, generally useful methods for microCT imaging for comparative morphology are still lacking. SN - 1472-6793 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6793-9-11 DO - 10.1186/1472-6793-9-11 ID - Metscher2009 ER -