Comparison of microstructural imaging of the root canal isthmus using propagation-based X-ray phase-contrast and absorption micro-computed tomography.

Clear and complete microstructural imaging of the root canal isthmus is an important part of pathological investigations in research and clinical practice. X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) is a widely used non-destructive imaging technique, which allows for distortion-free three-dimensional (3D) visualisation. While absorption μCT typically has poor contrast resolution for observing the root canal isthmus, especially for weak-absorbing tissues, propagation-based X-ray phase-contrast imaging (PBI) is a powerful imaging method, which in its combination with μCT (PB-PCμCT) enables high-resolution and high-contrast microstructural imaging of the weak-absorbing tissues in samples. To investigate the feasibility and ability of PB-PCμCT in microstructural imaging of the root canal isthmus, conventional absorption μCT and PB-PCμCT experiments were performed. The two-dimensional (2D) and 3D comparison results demonstrated that, compared to absorption μCT, PB-PCμCT has the ability to image the root canal isthmus more clearly and completely, and thus, it has great potential to serve as a valuable tool for biomedical and preclinical studies on the root canal isthmus.