Heart valve computational models require high quality geometric input data, commonly obtained using micro-computed tomography. Whether in the open or closed configuration, most studies utilize dry valves, which poses significant challenges including gravitational and surface tension effects along with desiccation induced mechanical changes. These challenges are overcome by scanning in a stress-free configuration in fluid. Utilizing fluid backgrounds however reduces overall contrast due to the similar density of fluid and tissue. The work presented here demonstrates imaging of the mitral valve by utilizing an iodine-based staining solution to improve the contrast of valve tissue against a fluid background and investigates the role of stain time and concentration. It is determined that an Olea europaea oil bath with a relatively high concentration, short stain time approach produces high quality imagery suitable for creating accurate 3D renderings. Micro-CT scanning of heart valves in fluid is shown to be feasible using iodine staining techniques.

中文翻译：

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流体中心脏瓣膜组织的 MicroCT 成像

心脏瓣膜计算模型需要高质量的几何输入数据，通常使用微型计算机断层扫描获得。无论是打开还是关闭配置，大多数研究都使用干阀，这带来了重大挑战，包括重力和表面张力效应以及干燥引起的机械变化。通过在流体中以无应力配置进行扫描，可以克服这些挑战。然而，由于流体和组织的密度相似，使用流体背景会降低整体对比度。这里介绍的工作展示了二尖瓣的成像，方法是利用碘基染色溶液来提高瓣膜组织与流体背景的对比度，并研究染色时间和浓度的作用。经测定，浓度较高的油橄榄油浴，短染色时间方法可生成适合创建准确 3D 渲染的高质量图像。使用碘染色技术对流体中的心脏瓣膜进行显微 CT 扫描显示是可行的。