Hi all,
My group is working with arrays of translucent cones. The cones are around 400-1200 micrometers high, and the arrays are roughly circular, about 1 mm in diameter. We’re trying to create 3D images of them before and after treatments. Apologies, but I can’t provide any images or speak to their composition or application.
We’ve worked with a few companies that offer 3D surface profiling, which is exactly what we need - but both visible light and the laser imaging methods they used passed right through the material, resulting in either a very noisy image with obvious missing pieces, or no image at all.
Any suggestions? We don’t care about any features other than physical shape. Maybe there’s an ultrasound-based method that could work?
A contact profilemeter wouldn’t work for your application?
Hello @Crabhammer and welcome to the forum.
From your description I would consider OCT as a non-destructive option. You could alternatively use scanning electron microscopy as long as the physical composition can withstand the procedure. There may be easier / cheaper methods but for that we would need to know more about the chemical / physical nature of these mysterious cones.
If they are amenable to histological processing or, in some other way, microtomy, then serial section reconstruction is an option. Other options exist but choosing the most appropriate method will require knowledge of the physical properties and / or chemical nature of the sample.
PJT
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Thanks for the replies! I’m a complete novice at 3D image construction, so just reading the names of some options is very helpful.
The cones are made mostly of sugars. A contact method might work well, now that I read into it a bit - I would have assumed that the sharp angles and moderate fragility would exclude those, but I think I’m underestimating the technology.
The sugar thing raises other, perhaps easier and cheaper, possibilities.
For example you might be able to stain your sample, either positively (e.g. with PAS) or negatively using a dye that will not dissolve it. Then you can use bright field optical sectioning microscopy (e.g. deconvolution or light sheet microscopy) to make your 3D image.
If you can stain them with a fluorescent dye then the (technically easier) method of fluorescence deconvolution can be used.
But you said something about the effect of ‘treatments’ - are those coatings? If so, then maybe OCT would be best after all. If the treatment merely alter the shapes of the cones without significantly altering their chemical nature then the above optical sectioning methods would still hold.
If I understand your description correctly the cones seem quite large (1 mm diameter by 0.4 to 1.2 mm high) so low power, low resolution light field microscopy might work - but I am not sure where the ‘array’ aspect of your sample comes into it.
Perhaps you can give us some feedback later down the line as to what solution you found to work in the end.
PJT