Bruker Presents SkyScan Micro-CT Product Line for 3D X-Ray Imaging in Materials Research and Preclinical Studies
Bruker microCT presents its new product line of advanced, high-resolution micro computed tomography (CT) systems for three-dimensional (3D) X-ray imaging following the recent acquisition of SkyScan N.V.. Bruker microCT instruments can be configured for numerous applications in materials research and in the life sciences, including in vivo preclinical animal imaging, in vitro bone and soft tissue imaging, 3D imaging of electronic components, synthetic materials, new devices such as micro-sensors and cardio-stimulators, geological samples, fuel cell components, ceramics, and more. The Bruker microCT products can be equipped with sample stages for in-situ scanning under compression and tension, cooling and heating. The various product groups and products are described below in more detail.
1. Compact and versatile Micro-CT imagers in which the sample is rotated between the X-ray source and the camera:
• The SkyScan 1172TM represents a new generation of micro-CT systems. A novel architecture, enabling both the sample stage and the X-ray camera to move automatically during magnification adjustment, allows an unprecedented combination of spatial resolution, image quality, sample size accommodation and scanning speed.
• The SkyScan 1173 TM is a high-energy micro-CT scanner for large and dense objects. It includes a newly developed 130kV X-ray source, a flat panel sensor with special protection by a lead-glass fiber optic window for long lifetime under high energy X-ray exposure, and a precision object manipulator for heavy objects with an embedded micro-positioning stage.
• The SkyScan 1174 TM is a compact, cost-effective instrument. Fast scanning, straightforward control, small footprint and maintenance-free operation make this micro-CT scanner an ideal solution for scientific research, as well as for industrial applications, such as quality control. The scanner can run from any desktop or portable computer requiring just one USB port and FireWire input.
2. High-resolution 3D scanners with submicron spatial resolution:
• The SkyScan 2011 TM system was introduced as the first revolutionary laboratory nano-CT scanner with spatial resolution in the range of a few hundreds of nanometers. This spatial resolution in terms of volume is equal to or better than that of synchrotron tomography. For the first time true sub-micron tomographic imaging is available in a laboratory instrument.
• The SkyScan SEM-CT TM kit is a device that allows the generation of 3D images using any scanning electron microscope. While a standard scanning electron microscope only images the sample surface, the simple addition of a SkyScan SEM-CT opens full access to the third dimension of the material’s internal micro-world without sample cutting, coating or other preparation.
3. Hyphenated 3D scanner which adds true 3D chemical XRF analysis capability to high-resolution micro-tomography:
• The SkyScan 2140 TM micro-CT/micro-XRF combines in one instrument a micro-CT scanner, which provides high-resolution morphological information and absorption correction maps for chemical analysis, with a full-field 3D micro-XRF scanner for reconstruction of the 3D chemical composition inside the sample.
4. Advanced Micro-CT systems where the X-ray source and the camera are rotated around the object, as in a clinical CT scanner, forin-vivo scanning of small laboratory animals like mice and rats, as well as for ex-vivo scanning of other types of samples:
• The SkyScan 1176 TM is a state-of-the-art high-resolution low-dose X-Ray scanner for in-vivo 3D-reconstruction with detail detectability (voxel size) down to 9 microns inside small laboratory animals (rats, mice, rabbit’s periphery, etc.). It allows non-invasive reconstruction of any cross section through the animal body and conversion of reconstructed datasets into realistic 3D-images, plus calculation of internal morphometric parameters, including bone architectural parameters.
• The SkyScan 1178 TM is a high-throughput, fast, low-dose in-vivo micro-CT scanner. The animal bed holder is interchangeable for multimodality imaging with other imaging technologies like PET, SPECT and bioluminescence.
5. All SkyScan micro-CT systems are equipped with the proprietary software package for 3D reconstruction, 2D/3D image analysis and realistic 3D visualization:
• SkyScan NRecon TM high speed volumetric reconstruction software uses the set of acquired angular projections to create a set of virtual slices through the scanned object. The GPU-accelerated reconstruction process can optionally be speeded up by a cluster of several computers connected by a gigabit network.
• SkyScan Data Viewer TM software displays reconstructed results as a slice by slice movie or as three orthogonal sections centered at any selected point inside the reconstructed space with possibility to rotate and resample the dataset to any alternative orientation.
• SkyScan CT-analyser TM (CT-An) software allows 2D and 3D quantitative analysis of reconstructed volumes. Powerful, flexible and programmable image processing tools allow a wide range of segmentation, enhancement and measurement functions for analysis with flexibility to create batch processing by custom build task-lists and to create user plug-ins.
• SkyScan CT-volume TM (CT-Vol) software provides, by using triangulated models from CT-An, a virtual 3D viewing environment, flexible and rich in features with a wide range of options for 3D presentations of micro-CT results including surface rendering with the possibility to export into CAD programs.
• SkyScan CT-Voxel TM (CT-Vox) software advances further 3D visualization capability, offering a volume rendering 3D environment with transfer function to export 3D images to mobile devices like iPhone and iPad, surface lighting adjustment plus maximum intensity projection (MIP) viewing combined with flexible cut and select tools, including movie making.
Bruker microCT
Kartuizersweg 3B
B-2550 Kontich
Belgium
T: +32 3 8775705
[email protected]
www.bruker.com/microct
