We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
GLOBETECH PUBLISHING LLC

Download Mobile App




Nano-CT Device Creates High-Resolution 3D X-Rays

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 22 Nov 2017
Image: A Nano-CT image of the legs of velvet worm (Photo courtesy of de Sena Oliveira / University of Kassel).
Image: A Nano-CT image of the legs of velvet worm (Photo courtesy of de Sena Oliveira / University of Kassel).
A novel imaging device can produces images that approach the resolution of a scanning electron microscope, while also capturing structures under the surface.

Under development at Munich Technical University (TUM; Germany) and the University of Kassel (Germany), the Nano-CT system is a table-top laboratory device and data processing pipeline that routinely and efficiently generates high-resolution three dimensional (3D) data at about 100 nm resolution of very small biological samples, without requiring synchrotron radiation optics. The researchers used the system to demonstrate the walking appendage of a Euperipatoides rowelli--the velvet worm-- a representative of the Onychophora invertebrate group, which is considered pivotal for understanding animal evolution.

Comparative analyses proved that nano-CT depicted the external morphology of the limb with an image quality similar to scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while simultaneously visualizing internal muscular structures at higher resolutions than confocal laser scanning microscopy, enabling the researchers to reveal hitherto unknown aspects of the Onychophoran limb musculature and enabling 3D reconstruction of individual muscle fibers. The study was published on October 3, 2017, in PNAS.

“Our goal in the development of the Nano-CT system is not only to be able to investigate biological samples, such as the leg of the velvet worm; in the future, this technology will also make biomedical investigations possible,” said professor of biomedical physics Franz Pfeiffer, PhD, of TUM. “Thus, for example, we will be able to examine tissue samples to clarify whether or not a tumor is malignant. A non-destructive and three-dimensional image of the tissue with a resolution like that of the Nano-CT can also provide new insights into the microscopic development of widespread illnesses such as cancer.”

“In contrast to arthropods, onychophorans do not have segmented limbs, as is also the case with their presumed common fossil ancestors,” said senior author Georg Mayer, PhD, of the department of zoology at the University of Kassel. “The investigation of the functional anatomy of the velvet worm's legs plays a key role in determining how the segmented limbs of the arthropods evolved.”

Related Links:
Munich Technical University
University of Kassel

Biopsy Software
Affirm® Contrast
Medical Radiographic X-Ray Machine
TR30N HF
Digital X-Ray Detector Panel
Acuity G4
Portable Color Doppler Ultrasound System
S5000

Channels

Ultrasound

view channel
Image: The new implantable device for chronic pain management is small and flexible (Photo courtesy of The Zhou Lab at USC)

Wireless Chronic Pain Management Device to Reduce Need for Painkillers and Surgery

Chronic pain affects millions of people globally, often leading to long-term disability and dependence on opioid medications, which carry significant risks of side effects and addiction.... Read more

Nuclear Medicine

view channel
Image: The diagnostic tool could improve diagnosis and treatment decisions for patients with chronic lung infections (Photo courtesy of SNMMI)

Novel Bacteria-Specific PET Imaging Approach Detects Hard-To-Diagnose Lung Infections

Mycobacteroides abscessus is a rapidly growing mycobacteria that primarily affects immunocompromised patients and those with underlying lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary... Read more

Imaging IT

view channel
Image: The new Medical Imaging Suite makes healthcare imaging data more accessible, interoperable and useful (Photo courtesy of Google Cloud)

New Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite Makes Imaging Healthcare Data More Accessible

Medical imaging is a critical tool used to diagnose patients, and there are billions of medical images scanned globally each year. Imaging data accounts for about 90% of all healthcare data1 and, until... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.