Micro/Nano-CT for Visualization of Internal Structures

Computed tomography (CT) has been commonly used in medicine for assessing the anatomy of humans in conventional computer axial tomography (CAT) scans. It is also a very common tool for assessing the architecture of trabecular bones for diagnosis of conditions such as osteoporosis. More recently, high-resolution CT (micro-CT) has found increasing use in materials science for the evaluation of the internal structure of a variety of advanced materials for industrial applications. Knowledge of the micro-architecture of these materials is extremely important to better understand their performance. Micro-CT is a non-destructive 3D characterization tool that uses X rays to determine the internal structure of objects through imaging of different densities within the scanned object. High-resolution laboratory-based micro-CT or nano-CT provides image resolution on the order of 300 nm. Such high resolution allows one to visualize the internal 3D structure of fine-scale features. The data from micro-CT results in a virtual rendering of the object under investigation, which allows one to travel through the volume in any direction and angle, revealing complex hidden structures within the object. Thus, micro-CT can be an important complementary technique for a microscopy laboratory.