1. Immunology and Inflammation
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3d virtual pathohistology of lung tissue from COVID-19 patients based on phase contrast x-ray tomography

  1. Marina Eckermann
  2. Jasper Frohn
  3. Marius Reichardt
  4. Markus Osterhoff
  5. Michael Sprung
  6. Fabian Westermeier
  7. Alexandar Tzankov
  8. Christopher Werlein
  9. Mark Kühnel
  10. Danny Jonigk  Is a corresponding author
  11. Tim Salditt  Is a corresponding author
  1. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany
  2. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Germany
  3. Universitätsspital Basel, Switzerland
  4. Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH), Germany
Research Article
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Cite this article as: eLife 2020;9:e60408 doi: 10.7554/eLife.60408

Abstract

We present a three-dimensional (3d) approach for virtual histology and histopathology based on multi-scale phase contrast x-ray tomography, and use this to investigate the parenchymal architecture of unstained lung tissue from patients who succumbed to Covid-19. Based on this first proof-of-concept study, we propose multi-scale phase contrast x-ray tomography as a tool to unravel the pathophysiology of Covid-19, extending conventional histology by a third dimension and allowing for full quantification of tissue remodeling. By combining parallel and cone beam geometry, autopsy samples with a maximum cross section of 4mm are scanned and reconstructed at a resolution and image quality which allows for the segmentation of individual cells. Using the zoom capability of the cone beam geometry, regions-of-interest are reconstructed with a minimum voxel size of 167 nm. We exemplify the capability of this approach by 3d visualisation of the DAD with its prominent hyaline membrane formation, by mapping the 3d distribution and density of lymphocytes infiltrating the tissue, and by providing histograms of characteristic distances from tissue interior to the closest air compartment.

Data availability

All datasets were uploaded to zenodo: 10.5281/zenodo.3892637

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Marina Eckermann

    Institute for x-ray physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. Jasper Frohn

    Institute for x-ray physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Marius Reichardt

    Institute for x-ray physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Markus Osterhoff

    Institute for x-ray physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. Michael Sprung

    Petra III, P10, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  6. Fabian Westermeier

    Petra III, P10, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  7. Alexandar Tzankov

    Institut für Medizinische Genetik und Pathologie, Universitätsspital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  8. Christopher Werlein

    Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH), Hannover, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  9. Mark Kühnel

    Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH), Hannover, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  10. Danny Jonigk

    Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH), Hannover, Germany
    For correspondence
    Jonigk.Danny@mh-hannover.de
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  11. Tim Salditt

    Institute for x-ray physics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
    For correspondence
    tsaldit@gwdg.de
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-4636-0813

Funding

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (05K19MG2)

  • Tim Salditt

H2020 European Research Council (771883)

  • Danny Jonigk

Max-Planck School (Matter to Life)

  • Marius Reichardt
  • Tim Salditt

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (-EXC 2067/1-390729940)

  • Tim Salditt

Botnar Research Center of Child Health (BRCCH)

  • Alexandar Tzankov

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Human subjects: The study was approved by and conducted according to requirements of the ethics committees at the Hannover Medical School (vote Nr. 9022 BO K 2020).

Reviewing Editor

  1. Mone Zaidi, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, United States

Publication history

  1. Received: June 25, 2020
  2. Accepted: August 17, 2020
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: August 20, 2020 (version 1)
  4. Accepted Manuscript updated: August 25, 2020 (version 2)
  5. Version of Record published: September 4, 2020 (version 3)

Copyright

© 2020, Eckermann et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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Categories and tags

Research organism

    1. Part of

    COVID-19: A Collection of Articles

    Edited by Diane M Harper et al.
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    2. Medicine
    3. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

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