Here are some categories & examples of applications where X-ray imaging tools can provide value:

Earth Sciences, Paleontology, and Multi-phase Materials

Composite multi-phase materials are prevalent in earth sciences, paleontology, volcanology, and natural history studies that focus on understanding what once existed & potentially using these data to predict / mitigate what may occur in the future. For fossil applications, researchers often need to minimize excavation/physical processing to preserve the natural state, making it especially impactful to use a nondestructive X-ray imaging technique to elucidate features under the surface.


Fossils such as these insect eggs discovered by researchers at John Day Fossil Beds National Park have been scanned with the Zeiss Xradia 620 Versa system, demonstrating the power of nondestructive microCT imaging to reveal the internal structures of rare specimens. This image is from a 3D rendering of the insect nest scan, virtually cut into a face at which full eggs on the top surface as well as section views of eggs under the surface are visible. This new understanding of a 29-million-year-old set of fossils was published in January 2024 and has been making national and local headlines, including this CNN article.

This jaw bone was discovered by researchers at UO’s Vertebrate Paleontology group and was scanned with the Zeiss Xradia 620 Versa system. This 4panel view of the scan with companion 3D video here) demonstrates our ability to evaluate inner features and cracks of individual teeth within the overall fossilized jaw. Volcanic materials including this pumice as well as olivines, obsidians, and feldspars, have been imaged at our facility to evaluate a variety of internal features. They typically contain regions of different material densities, formed by temperature & pressure changes, and these regions can be segmented & quantified using available image processing software. We can also output file formats you can take with you to evaluate with other programs.

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Aquatic Species


The Zeiss Xradia 620 Versa was used to scan this magnificent, over 1 foot long, weedy seadragon (provided post-mortem to the Cresko lab by the Tennessee Aquarium). Images generated at the Core were analyzed & further processed as part of this PNAS publication about syngnathid genomes & featured in several news stories (including at NYTimes).

 

Various species and anatomical locations can benefit from use of microCT to elucidate structural & morphologic changes due to environment and/or evolution. Features of fish skulls, teeth, and jaws are prime targets for exploring with X-ray imaging. Shown here is a sculpin skull segmented in 3D Slicer. Some features are extremely small, and using the Zeiss’s Scout+Zoom techniques, tiny volumes of interest scanned at submicron voxel sizes can be captured & analyzed. In this example, 0.6um voxel size was achieved.

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Osteoarthritis and Joint Tissue Imaging

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that painfully impacts hundreds of millions of people worldwide and does not have therapeutic solutions. This is not just a problem for the aging population – athletes of all ages who incur traumatic joint injuries often suffer from early onset osteoarthritis. In preclinical models, we can use microCT to quantitatively assess structural damage to joint tissues as well as any positive effects of newly developed therapies.

This is a pseudocolor articular cartilage thickness map of the medial tibial plateau overlayed on a bone segmentation of the proximal tibia, generated with the Scanco vivaCT80. A contrast agent was used to enhance the radiodensity of the cartilage and allow us to not only measure structural but also matrix composition changes within the tissue. We are exploring techniques with the Zeiss system that do not rely on contrast agents to provide enough contrast resolution to assess joint degeneration & therapeutic effects of novel treatments.

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Polymer Scaffolds & Biomaterials

Porous polymeric scaffolds & materials fabricated to serve as biostructural / biomolecular / biochemical support for the ingrowth of cells & tissues have long been explored as part of the foundation of tissue engineering & regenerative medicine. They are often made for specific applications, with specific properties, and microCT is often used as a tool to characterize their microstructures at high resolutions.

Melt electrowriting (MEW) is an advanced additive manufacturing technique that combines melt extrusion and an electric field to produce highly controlled polymeric jet characteristics and therefore tunable fiber sizes & scaffold geometries. Shown here is a pseudocolor volume thickness mapping of a tubular scaffold produced with varying rotational angle connective fibers on a base of aligned fins. We have used the Zeiss system to scan porous collagen biomaterials produced by the Harley lab at University of Illinois at 3um voxel size. Volume thickness maps generated in Dragonfly Pro are shown here: LEFT = solid structure ; RIGHT = pore structure (top axial, bottom longitudinal sections).

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Metals & Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) is rapidly growing as a category of fabrication techniques that can provide high strength, complex parts in a wide range of fields including biomedical devices. However, it is important to be able to identify & measure voids or other inconsistencies produced during AM processes. X-ray imaging techniques can help provide these data nondestructively, even in some metallic parts where metal & beam hardening artifacts can be barriers.

The Knight Campus also houses an impressive Fabrication facility including many AM tools. These Ti6Al4V dogbones & cylinder were printed with a DMG Mori Lasertec 30 SLM system and set up to be scanned sequentially using the Zeiss’s Autoloader for automating transitions between samples. This example demonstrates how we can use image processing software (in this case ORS Dragonfly Pro) to identify, label with a color code, and quantify the volumes of individual pores within the gauge length portion of one of the 3D printed Ti dogbones, the ‘shadow’ of which is shown in a more transparent display layer.

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