Preliminary study of X-ray and laser digital image of kidney endocast

Kidney endocasts are the only way to show intrarenal arteries and the collecting system of pathologically unchanged human kidney. We describe different methods of digital endocast three dimensional (3D) imaging with the use of X-ray and laser radiation. Images of several kidney endocasts were obtained with the use of: (i) X-ray microtomography, (ii) Medical Computed Tomography (CT) and (iii) 3D Laser Scanner. The images were compared with an appearance of endocast and the images of kidney vessels obtained during angiographic CT protocols in clinical practice. The X-ray computed microtomography is characterized by very high resolution; however, relatively small field of view is available at high magnification and long data acquisition time is needed. Laser 3D scanner has a comparable resolution, but it was not possible to obtain full 3D reconstruction of the sample structure. The cast was too complex for reconstruction with limited number of projection obtained with the use of the laser scanner. Medical CT has limited resolution but time of data acquisition was very short. The achieved images were comparable with those from Angio-CT protocols. Digital imaging of kidney endocasts is possible with current imaging obtained by means of X-ray imaging techniques. The obtained images are useful for further study, such as statistical analysis, especially those obtained from Medical CT.