[Direct radiographic magnification in experimental medicine]

Some aspects of direct radiological magnification in experimental medicine are shown by teratological investigations of the fetal rat skeleton and by indirect lymphadenography in rabbits. A combination of microfocal radiography and high-resolution non-screen films or digital image processing allows the evaluation of structures with a minimum size of 5 microns. Pseudo-3D images correlate directly with scanning electron micrographs of equivalent casts. Therefore radiography with direct magnification can make difficult preparations and time-consuming staining processes unnecessary. Besides saving time, the main advantage of this method is the amount of new information it yields. For the first time, for example, the filling mechanism becomes visible even in minute vessels, such as the intranodal sinuses, which measure about 10 microns. Hitherto, we have only been able to infer this mechanism from histological specimens. A further benefit of direct radiological magnification over the conventional microscopical method is the smaller number of experimental animals needed.