Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 26, 2025
Multicolor 3D Printing of Complex Intracranial Tumors in Neurosurgery
Published on: January 11, 2020
Chondrosarcoma evaluation using hematein-based x-ray staining and high-resolution 3D micro-CT: a feasibility study
Alexandra S Gersing1,2, Melanie A Kimm3,4, Christine Bollwein5
1Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, School of Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Ismaningerstr. 22, Munich, 81675, Germany. alexandra.gersing@tum.de.
Background:
Chondrosarcomas are rare malignant bone tumors diagnosed by analyzing radiological images and histology of tissue biopsies and evaluating features such as matrix calcification, cortical destruction, trabecular penetration, and tumor cell entrapment.
Methods:
We retrospectively analyzed 16 cartilaginous tumor tissue samples from three patients (51-, 54-, and 70-year-old) diagnosed with a dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma at the femur, a moderately differentiated chondrosarcoma in the pelvis, and a predominantly moderately differentiated chondrosarcoma at the scapula, respectively. We combined a hematein-based x-ray staining with high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) microscopic x-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) for nondestructive 3D tumor assessment and tumor margin evaluation.
Results:
We detected trabecular entrapment on 3D micro-CT images and followed bone destruction throughout the volume. In addition to staining cell nuclei, hematein-based staining also improved the visualization of the tumor matrix, allowing for the distinction between the tumor and the bone marrow cavity. The hematein-based staining did not interfere with further conventional histology. There was a 5.97 ± 7.17% difference between the relative tumor area measured using micro-CT and histopathology (p = 0.806) (Pearson correlation coefficient r = 0.92, p = 0.009). Signal intensity in the tumor matrix (4.85 ± 2.94) was significantly higher in the stained samples compared to the unstained counterparts (1.92 ± 0.11, p = 0.002).
Conclusions:
Using nondestructive 3D micro-CT, the simultaneous visualization of radiological and histopathological features is feasible.
Relevance Statement:
3D micro-CT data supports modern radiological and histopathological investigations of human bone tumor specimens. It has the potential for being an integrative part of clinical preoperative diagnostics.
Key Points:
• Matrix calcifications are a relevant diagnostic feature of bone tumors. • Micro-CT detects all clinically diagnostic relevant features of x-ray-stained chondrosarcoma. • Micro-CT has the potential to be an integrative part of clinical diagnostics.
