High resolution computed tomography applied to biological samples

G. TIRAO; C. QUINTANA; D. GRAÑA; M. VALENTE

Santa Marta

Congreso; XIII Latin American Seminary of Analysis by X-ray Techniques – SARX; 2012

During the last decades, transmission radiography has been applied to a wide range of science and culture areas. However, one of the most relevant characteristics is its capability for providing reliable non-destructive and non-invasive imaging techniques for attaining internal sample structure. Biological samples are non satisfactory studied by some typical X-ray characterisation methods, like X-ray fluorescence or traditional non-optimised transmission radiography. As known, materials composed of low atomic number elements present X-ray fluorescence emission at energies not high enough to be accurately detected and quantified by means of conventional detection devices. Similarly, X-ray absorption properties do not change significantly between different materials composed of low atomic number elements and therefore conventional transmission radiography encounters difficulties when applied to typical biological samples, so that just a few cases in medical applications can be satisfactory solved, like absorption contrast between soft and bone tissues or lung. During the last years great efforts have been dedicated worldwide for developing modern hardware, electronics and image processing techniques for improving available radiological imaging. This work resumes some of the most relevant results for biological samples obtained at the integrated medical imaging line of Laboratorio de Investigaciones e Instrumentación en Física Aplicada a la Medicina e Imágenes por Rayos X (LIIFAMIRX) of the University of Córdoba, Argentina. According to the adopted open facility modality for the integrated imaging line, most of the applied investigations have been realised by specific requests and further collaboration with external research groups having all necessary licences and experience for manipulating biological samples of different kind. This work reports medical applications, like human bone imaging for osteoporosis studies: dentist applications, like teeth imaging for internal structure characterisation and veterinary applications, like ex-corpo laboratory rat femoral bone structure and lesion characterisation or in-vivo laboratory rat internal body studies. The obtained results demonstrate the capability of the facility and suggest its high potential for further - even more complex- applications.