X-ray microtomography

The second setup, much more like a clinical CT scanner, is gantry based where the animal/specimen is stationary in space while the X-ray tube and detector rotate around.

The first published X-ray microtomographic images were reconstructed slices of a small tropical snail, with pixel size about 50 micrometers.

Although the scanner is shielded, care must be taken and the operator usually carries a dosimeter, since X-rays have a tendency to be absorbed by metal and then re-emitted like an antenna.

Although a typical scanner will produce a relatively harmless volume of X-rays, repeated scannings in a short timeframe could pose a danger.

Digital detectors with small pixel pitches and micro-focus x-ray tubes are usually employed to yield in high resolution images.

[citation needed] Volume rendering is a technique used to display a 2D projection of a 3D discretely sampled data set, as produced by a microtomography scanner.

Where different structures have similar threshold density, it can become impossible to separate them simply by adjusting volume rendering parameters.

[11][12] Developmental biology In geology it is used to analyze micro pores in the reservoir rocks,[32][33] it can used in microfacies analysis for sequence stratigraphy.