HIGH RESOLUTION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY APPLIED TO BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES

GERMÁN TIRAO; CLARA QUINTANA; DARÍO GRAÑA; MAURO VALENTE

Santa Marta

Congreso; XIII Latin American Seminary of Analysis by X-Ray Techniques; 2012

Asociación Colombiana de Cristalografía y Universidad de Santander

During the last decades, transmission radiography has been applied to a wide range of science and cultureareas. 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 sampleare non satisfactory studied by some typical X-ray characterisation methods, like X-ray fluorescence ortraditional non-optimised transmission radiography. As known, materials composed of low atomic numberelements present X-ray fluorescence emission at energies not high enough to be accurately detected andquantified by means of conventional detection devices. Similarly, X-ray absorption properties do notchange significantly between different materials composed of low atomic number elements and thereforeconventional 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 betweensoft and bone tissues or lung. During the last years great efforts have been dedicated worldwide fordeveloping modern hardware, electronics and image processing techniques for improving availableradiological imaging. This work resumes some of the most relevant results for biological samplesobtained at the integrated medical imaging line of Laboratorio de Investigaciones e Instrumentacion enFisica Aplicada a la Medicina e Imagenes por Rayos X (LIIFAMIR X) of the University of Cordoba,Argentina. According to the adopted open facility modality for the integrated imaging line, most of theapplied investigations have been realised by specific requests and further collaboration with externalresearch groups having all necessary licences and experience for manipulating biological samples ofdifferent 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 ratinternal body studies. The obtained results demonstrate the capability of the facility and suggest its highpotential for further - even more complex- applications.