The Micro-CT Analysis of the Structural Parameters of Collagen-based Porous Scaffolds: The Influence of Image Processing and Binarization

Abstract

Abstract The micro-CT evaluation of structural parameter values is dependent on the processing of the image prior to its analysis. However, the degree of bias introduced by the image-processing process is generally unknown. The micro-CT analysis of three basic parameters (volume, surface, and pore size) was performed for 20 collagen-based porous scaffolds. The image data were processed using various approaches (noise reduction, binarization), analyzed and results were compared. A high degree of variability was observed in the values of the structural parameters. The differences between the mean values were as follows: 190% (volume), 160% (surface density), and 210% (pore size). Significant differences were observed with respect to the noise reduction in terms of the pore size values (frequently in excess of 300%). Our study proved the significant dependence of image processing on the results obtained. The data presented can be used as an estimate for the introduced bias. We suggest improvements in terms of the selection of the image-processing approach based on a combination of subjective selection (the standard method) and numerical analysis based on the consistency of the results. Although we focused on tissue engineering scaffolds, the principles are similar for all fields of the micro-CT application.