Three-dimensional visualization of ductal carcinoma in situ and usual ductal hyperplasia using the refraction-contrast x-ray computed tomography.

We visualized the luminal structures generated by DCIS and UDH using a refraction-contrast X-ray CT technique, which provides a contrast close to stained tissue images, and showed that DCIS and UDH forms a bubble-like shape and a tube-like shape, respectively. To express the difference in the three-dimensional structure between these tissue clearly, the number of luminal spaces, luminal volume, luminal density, and path length of the luminal structures were introduced. As a result, it was found that DCIS has many smaller and shorter lumens than UDH, which can contribute to the development of 3D pathology.