Fast Small‐Angle X‐Ray Scattering Tensor Tomography: An Outlook into Future Applications in Life Sciences
Small Angle-X-ray Scattering Tensor Tomography (SAS-TT) is a relatively new but powerful technique for studying the multiscale architecture of hierarchical structures particularly relevant to life science applications. Currently, the technique is very demanding on synchrotron beamtime, which limits its applications, especially for cases requiring a statistically relevant number of samples. This study reports the first SAS-TT measurement at a macromolecular X-ray crystallography beamline, PX-I at the Swiss Light Source (SLS), with an improvement in acquisition time from 96 h/Mvoxel in the pilot experiments to 6 h/Mvoxel with comparable sampling, defining a new standard for fast SAS-TT with a micrometer beam size and allowing to record a full tomogram in 1.2 h. Measurements are performed on the long and lenticular process of the incus bone, one of the three human auditory ossicles. The main orientation and degree of alignment of the mineralised collagen fibrils are characterised, as well as the size and shape of the mineral particles which show relevant variations in different tissue locations. The study reveals three distinct regions of high fibril alignment, most likely important pathways of sound throughout the ossicular chain, and highlights the technique's potential to aid in future developments in middle ear reconstructive surgery.
Authors
- Oliver Bunk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6563-4053)
- Marianne Liebi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5403-0593)
- Leonard Nielsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5929-1127)
- Lukas Anschuetz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6927-0664)
- Klaus Wakonig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9088-5644)
- Filip Leonarski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2563-7169)
- J.A. Wojdyla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8975-4137)
- Anne Bonnin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5537-8682)
- Kate Smith‐Miles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2718-7680)
- Meitian Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5340-3036)
- Margaux Schmeltz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0286-7850)
- Christian Appel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6050-3836)
- Manuel Guizar‐Sicairos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8293-3634)
- John H. Beale (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1171-2428)
- Wayne Glettig
- Ezequiel Panepucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3388-997X)
- Katherine McAuley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9545-072X)
- Tomislav Marijolovic
- Irene Rodriguez‐Fernandez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8988-4927)
- Aleksandra Ivanovic (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1322-3794)
- Takashi Tomizaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0011-0990)
Institutions
- University of Bern (CH)
- Bern University of Applied Sciences (CH)
- University Hospital of Bern (CH)
- Paul Scherrer Institute (CH)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering (CH)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Small Methods
- Published
- 2025-07-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.202500162
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Advanced X-ray Imaging Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.65
Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Vetenskapsrådet
- H2020 European Research Council
- H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions