An amazing new X-ray scanner has been tried for the first time on a human, producing 3D color images with incredible detail. The spectral (multi-energy) scanner was developed for clinical uses by researchers at Universities of Canterbury and Otago, both in New Zealand, and it relies on a detector created originally for CERN, the large European particle accelerator laboratory, to help find the Higgs boson.
The detector is unique because it measures the X-ray energy delivered to it and counts photons at the same time, resulting in thousands of times more data than CT or MRI machines. This, in turn, provides an ability to quantitatively assess the images, looking for specific types of tissues, contrast agents, and even drugs and nanoparticles.
The technology, being commercialized by MARS Bioimaging of Christchurch, New Zealand, has already been available for pre-clinical use in the form of a small bore scanner designed for small animals, but thanks to more research it has been translated into a larger scanner that can fit a human patient.
Here’s a video showing a slice-through of a human ankle using the new scanner:
Link: MARS Bioimaging…