biostudies-literaturede S e Silva JMEuropean Research Council14088https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC4585898biostudies-literatureUnknown5Low inherent contrast in soft tissues has been limiting the use of X-ray absorption micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to access high-resolution structural information of animal organs. The staining agents used in micro-CT to improve the contrast fail in providing high-quality images of whole organs of animals due to diffusion problems of the staining agent into the sample. We demonstrate a staining protocol that incorporates a biochemical conditioning step prior to exposure to the staining agent that succeeds in overcoming the diffusion problems, thus quickly providing high-quality micro-CT images of whole organs of mammals. Besides of yielding non-distorted three-dimensional information at the same spatial resolution accessible in histological sections, micro-CT images of whole organs Scientific reportsThree-dimensional non-destructive soft-tissue visualization with X-ray staining micro-tomography.PMC4585898240142Zanette IKimm MACardoso MBNoel PBPfeiffer Fde S e Silva JMfalseThree-dimensional non-destructive soft-tissue visualization with X-ray staining micro-tomography.Low inherent contrast in soft tissues has been limiting the use of X-ray absorption micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to access high-resolution structural information of animal organs. The staining agents used in micro-CT to improve the contrast fail in providing high-quality images of whole organs of animals due to diffusion problems of the staining agent into the sample. We demonstrate a staining protocol that incorporates a biochemical conditioning step prior to exposure to the staining agent that succeeds in overcoming the diffusion problems, thus quickly providing high-quality micro-CT images of whole organs of mammals. Besides of yielding non-distorted three-dimensional information at the same spatial resolution accessible in histological sections, micro-CT images of whole organs 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z2015 Sep2025-04-21T20:24:39.282Z2019-03-27T01:59:07ZS-EPMC45858982640403610.1038/srep14088