A New Method for Investigation of the Hair Shaft: Hard X-Ray Microscopy with a 90-nm Spatial Resolution

Various methods have been used to investigate the hair shaft. In the ultrastructural hair field, scanning and transmission electron microscopies are widely used investigative methods, but they have some technical limitations. Recently, X-ray microscopes with sub-micron spatial resolution have emerged as useful instruments because they offer a unique opportunity to observe the interior of an undamaged sample in greater detail. In this report, we examined damaged hair shaft tips using hard X-ray microscopy with a 90 nm spatial resolution. The results of this study suggest that hard X-ray microscopy is an alternative investigative method for hair morphology studies.

Synchrotron Radiation Imaging of Female Breast Tissues Using Phase Contrast Technique / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: X-ray microscopy with synchrotron radiation might be a useful tool for novel x-ray imaging in the clinical and laboratory settings. This technique provides detailed images of internal structures non-invasively. It also has the potential to resolve some of the limitations of conventional breast imaging. We evaluated high resolution synchrotron imaging of breast tissues from normal breasts and breasts with fibroadenomas and cancer. METHODS: A new x-ray microscope was installed on the 1B2 beamline of a Pohang Light Source, at a third generation synchrotron radiation facility in Pohang, Korea. The phase contrast x-ray energy was set at 6.95 keV and the x-ray beam was monochromatized by a W/B4C monochromator. Formalinfixed or unfixed female breast tissue from normal breast as well as breasts with fibroadenomas and carcinoma were attached onto the Kapton film. The sample was positioned 25 m away from the beam source. The x-ray image of the sample was converted into a visual image on the CsI (TI) scintillation crystal, and magnified 20 times by the microscopic objective lens. After an additional 10 fold digital magnification, this visual image was captured by a full frame CCD camera. RESULTS: The monochromated x-ray microscopic images of female breast tissue from normal breast, fibroadenoma and carcinoma cases were evaluated. The total magnifying power of the microscope was x200. This synchrotron radiation imaging enabled us to observe detailed structures of breast tissue without sample preparation such as staining or fixation. CONCLUSION: Using monochromated synchrotron radiation, the x-ray microscopic images of the normal breast and breasts with fibroadenomas and cancer were obtained. From the images obtained, the x-ray microscopic imaging of breast tissue with synchrotron radiation appears to have great potential for clinical and research purposes such as oncology studies, early detection of cancer and as an aid to the pathological diagnosis in the future.