Non-destructive imaging of internal structures of a mosquito with sub-micrometer resolution

Inline x-ray phase tomography has emerged as one of the most suitable imaging techniques for the three-dimensional examination of soft tissue at the microscopic level. Historically, this method was constrained to synchrotron radiation due to its specific requirements, such as beam coherence. However, recent advancements in detector technology (optical magnification) and x-ray sources (e.g., smaller source sizes and liquid metal sources) have enabled the transfer of this technology to laboratory settings. In this study, we investigated selected parts of an ethanol-fixated mosquito—specifically the head, abdomen, and proboscis—at the sub-cellular level using the Xradia 610 Versa (Carl Zeiss X-ray Microscopy, Inc., Dublin, California, United States) with voxel sizes as small as 180nm. A single lens of the compound eye was segmented from the data set of the head, and the focal length was calculated to be 22μm. These results demonstrate the capability of laboratory-based x-ray phase tomography for high-resolution imaging of soft tissues, facilitating detailed structural analyses previously achievable only with synchrotron radiation.