TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schneider, Julio Valentin
A1  - Rabenstein, Renate
A1  - Wesenberg, Jens
A1  - Wesche, Karsten
A1  - Zizka, Georg
A1  - Habersetzer, Jörg
T1  - Improved non-destructive 2D and 3D X-ray imaging of leaf venation
T2  - Plant methods
N2  - Background: Leaf venation traits are important for many research fields such as systematics and evolutionary biology, plant physiology, climate change, and paleoecology. In spite of an increasing demand for vein trait data, studies are often still data-limited because the development of methods that allow rapid generation of large sets of vein data has lagged behind. Recently, non-destructive X-ray technology has proven useful as an alternative to traditional slow and destructive chemical-based methods. Non-destructive techniques more readily allow the use of herbarium specimens, which provide an invaluable but underexploited resource of vein data and related environmental information. The utility of 2D X-ray technology and microfocus X-ray computed tomography, however, has been compromised by insufficient image resolution. Here, we advanced X-ray technology by increasing image resolution and throughput without the application of contrast agents.
Results: For 2D contact microradiography, we developed a method which allowed us to achieve image resolutions of up to 7 µm, i.e. a 3.6-fold increase compared to the industrial standard (25 µm resolution). Vein tracing was further optimized with our image processing standards that were specifically adjusted for different types of leaf structure and the needs of higher imaging throughput. Based on a test dataset, in 91% of the samples the 7 µm approach led to a significant improvement in estimations of minor vein density compared to the industrial standard. Using microfocus X-ray computed tomography, very high-resolution images were obtained from a virtual 3D–2D transformation process, which was superior to that of 3D images.
Conclusions: Our 2D X-ray method with a significantly improved resolution advances rapid non-destructive bulk scanning at a quality that in many cases is sufficient to determine key venation traits. Together with our high-resolution microfocus X-ray computed tomography method, both non-destructive approaches will help in vein trait data mining from museum collections, which provide an underexploited resource of historical and recent data on environmental and evolutionary change. In spite of the significant increase in effective image resolution, a combination of high-throughput and full visibility of the vein network (including the smallest veins and their connectivity) remains challenging, however.
KW  - Contact microradiography
KW  - Image processing
KW  - Leaf clearing
KW  - Micro CT
KW  - Vein networks
KW  - Vein density
Y1  - 2018
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/45091
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-450910
SN  - 1746-4811
N1  - © The Author(s) 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
VL  - 14
IS  - Art. 7
SP  - 1
EP  - 15
PB  - BioMed Central
CY  - London
ER  -