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Fig. 1 | BMC Nephrology

Fig. 1

From: Novel methods for microCT-based analyses of vasculature in the renal cortex reveal a loss of perfusable arterioles and glomeruli in eNOS-/- mice

Fig. 1

Workflow for defining and analyzing total and cortical renal vasculature and glomeruli by contrast enhanced microCT. a The total renal volume was defined using a single contour around outer edge of the kidney. b The resulting mask was applied in combination with a grey-scale threshold and three-dimensional Gaussian noise filter to segment perfused vasculature from the total volume and (c) the distance transformation method was used to calculate thickness. d A mask approximating the renal cortex was created using a computer generated second contour, 600 μm deeper than outer contour (a) to exclude the medullary volume from the analysis. e and f The same threshold, Gaussian noise filter, and distance transformation procedures as in b and c were then applied. g Glomerular structures were then isolated from the three-dimensional segmented cortical vascular image (e) using an additional series of transformations to yield an object from which glomerular number and density can be calculated

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