Synchrotron phase-contrast imaging applied to the anatomical study of the hand and its vascularization

Microscopic anatomical study of the hand requires difficult or destructive dissection techniques for each anatomical structure. Synchrotron phase-contrast imaging (sPCI) allows us to study precisely, at a microscopic resolution and in a nondestructive approach, the soft tissues and bone structures within a single 3D image. Therefore, we aimed to assess the capacity of sPCI to study the arterial anatomy of the hand and digits in human cadavers for anatomical purposes. A non-injected hand from an embalmed body was imaged using sPCI at 21-µm pixel size. The vascularization and innervation of the hands were virtually reconstructed at 84-µm resolution, and the medial neurovascular bundle of the third digit at 21 µm. The thinner-most distal structures were observed and reported. The diameter and thickness of the vascular and neural structures were defined on 2D computed tomographic axial projections, and using a granulometry method coupled to the 3D reconstructions. The vascularization of the hand was visible from the radial and ulnar arteries to the distal digital transverse anastomoses. The thinnest structure observed was the anastomotic arterial network around the proper palmar digital nerve. The latter emerged from the proper palmar digital artery and vascularized the nerve around its whole length and circumference. The perineural arterioles individualizable at this resolution had a diameter of 66–309 µm. In conclusion, sPCI allows both the arterial and neural anatomy of the hand to be studied at the same time, as well as the anatomical interactions between both networks. It facilitates the study of structures that have different sizes, diameters, thickness, and histological origin with great precision, in a noninvasive way, and using a single technique.