MRI: Acquisition of a three-dimensional X-ray imaging system (microCT) supporting multiple users, research, and education through a central facility

这项授予北达科他州立大学的重大研究仪器奖资助购买成像系统，以使用数字射线照相和计算机X射线显微断层扫描(MicroCT)检查相对较小的物品，最小可达12英寸，最大可达25磅。除了产生高分辨率的常规二维/平面射线照片外，该系统还使用MicroCT来形成物体沿单一轴线的多个横断面数字图像。这些图像可以重新组装并以图形方式操作，以创建三维虚拟模型，允许在不损坏原始对象的情况下检查外部和内部结构。虚拟模型的后续分析有许多可能性，例如计算机生成的切片的可视化、任何所需平面中的任意剖视图、不同阶段的伪彩色表示以及孔隙分析。可以进行精确的内部测量，这些测量是在不破坏样品的情况下以其他方式无法获得的。MicroCT为从宏观到微观的复杂结构提供了一种独特的无损可视化方法。整个系统的分辨率现在优于1微米，允许详细了解结构、组成、相形态和颗粒分布的特征。样品制备还包括冷冻干燥器或冷冻干燥设备，通过升华和解吸去除水分，从而保存易腐烂的样品以供成像。仪器将被安置在南洋理工大学电子显微镜中心，使其能够为从生物学和人类学到工程和化学领域的研究人员提供普遍的分析，并用于跨学科的教学/培训。通过MicroCT，研究人员将能够获得目前在南洋理工大学根本不可能的无损分析。这个积极的、资金充足的研究小组在种族和性别上是多样化的，鼓励传统上在科学界没有很好代表性的群体的成员(例如，妇女、美洲土著人)参与进来。除了研究用途，微型CT还将是纳米技术、纳米材料、表征和材料设计物理课程不可或缺的一部分；这种培训将拓宽NDSU毕业生的职业机会，并有助于吸引有才华的新教师。预计这种仪器将立即用作Bison Microenture的检查教学工具，这是一门正在进行的多学科课程，在过去三年里为来自五所学院的八个专业的本科生和研究生提供了整合生物、化学和工程的实践经验。凭借其多功能性和现成的可视化，MicroCT将成为参与北达科他州州长学校、自然计划(培育美国部落本科生研究和教育)、州科学奥林匹克竞赛和地方教育合作等NDSU推广项目的本科生和K-20学生的一个有吸引力的选择。其他预期的用户包括整个北达科他州大学系统的机构和整个上中西部地区的行业合作伙伴，因为该州没有其他的微型CT设备。

This Major Research Instrumentation award to North Dakota State University funds acquisition of an imaging system to examine relatively small items up to 12 inches and 25 pounds using digital radiography and computed X-ray microtomography (microCT). In addition to producing high-resolution conventional two-dimensional/flat radiographs, the system uses microCT to form multiple cross-sectional digital images of an object along a single axis. These images can be reassembled and manipulated graphically to create a three-dimensional virtual model, permitting inspection of external and internal structures without damage to the original object. There are many possibilities for subsequent analysis of the virtual model, e.g. visualization of computer-generated ?slices?, arbitrary sectional views in any desired plane, pseudo-color representations of different phases, and pore analysis. Accurate internal measurements can be made that are obtainable in no other way without destroying the sample. MicroCT provides a unique nondestructive way to visualize complex structures from the macro to micro scales. Overall system resolution now is better than 1 µm, permitting detailed understanding of characteristics of structure, composition, phase morphology, and particle distribution. Also included for specimen prep¬a¬ra¬tion is a lyophilizer or freeze-drying apparatus to remove water by sublimation and desorption, thus preserving perishable samples for imaging. Instrumentation will be housed in the NDSU Electron Microscopy Center, making it universally available for analysis to researchers in fields from Biology and Anthropology to Engineering and Chemistry as well as for teaching/training across disciplines.Through microCT, investigators will have access to nondestructive analysis that is simply impossible at NDSU now. This active, well-funded research team, which is ethnically and gender-diverse, encourages participation by members of groups that traditionally have not been not well-represented in the scientific community (e.g., women, Native Americans). In addition to research use, microCT will be an integral part of courses on nanotechnology, nanomaterials, characterization, and materials-design physics; that training will broaden career opportunities for NDSU graduates and help attract talented new faculty members. The instrumentation is expected to see immediate use as a teaching tool for inspection in Bison Microventure, an ongoing multidisciplinary course that over the past three years has provided hands-on experience integrating biology, chemistry, and engineering for undergraduate and graduate students representing eight majors from five colleges. With its versatility and ready visualization, microCT will be an attractive option for undergraduate Biotechnology students and K-20 students participating in NDSU outreach programs like the North Dakota Governor's School, NATURE program (Nurturing American Tribal Undergraduate Research and Education), state Science Olympiad, and local education collaborations. Other anticipated users include institutions throughout the North Dakota University System and industry partners across the upper Midwestern region, as no other microCT units are available within the state.