Contact X-ray Cabinet

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The contact x-ray cabinet is required for numerous routinely used methods in osteological research and is an essential basic equipment for our institute. The device applied for is intended to replace an existing X-ray cabinet that has reached the end of its service life and can therefore neither be serviced nor repaired. Spare parts are also no longer available and the X-ray tube currently in use only has a very limited remaining lifespan, which is why timely replacement is urgently required. A functioning X-ray cabinet is required for almost all current research projects at the institute. The applications are very well established and range from orientation aid for sample cutting, control of certain sample preparation processes such as decalcification, identification of phenotypes in large and small animal models, to the generation of images and data that can be used directly for publications, such as bone density and quantification of the skeletal morphology. Furthermore, there are also cooperation projects with various other institutes and facilities, all of which are dependent on a functioning X-ray cabinet in order to work on musculoskeletal questions or to examine fundamentally different aspects with the device. These involve, for example, ectopic mineralization in neuronal tissue or checking the contrasting of soft tissue. The contact X-ray cabinet applied for here has some decisive improvements over the previously available device: The maximum X-ray tube voltage can reach up to 100 kV, which significantly improves the display of extremely compact samples and, in particular, of metallic implants. Furthermore, the enormously enlarged sensor area of 43 x 43 cm has considerable advantages over the old one with only 12 x 12 cm. Larger samples of human origin (e.g. forensic osteology, knee or hip implants) or from large animal models can be displayed in one piece, which enables more efficient and meaningful examinations. But even with smaller samples, this sensor size provides a decisive advantage, as several samples can be displayed in direct comparison at the same time. The extended capabilities of the requested device also enable the development and establishment of new and innovative analysis methods, such as integrated, automated bone density measurement and body composition determination in small animal models. Thus, the requested contact x-ray cabinet is urgently needed to ensure the successful processing of numerous projects in the areas of basic, translational and clinical research as well as in forensics and to ensure the high scientific research performance of our institute in the future.