SkyScan-1172 High-resolution desk-top micro-CT system

The Skyscan-1172 represents a new generation in desk-top X-ray micro-CT systems. A novel architecture in which both the sample stage and the x-ray camera are moveable allows an unprecedented combination of image resolution, sample size accommodation, scan speed and sample throughput.

This innovative flexible scanner geometry of the Skyscan-1172 is particularly advantageous over intermediate resolution levels, where scans are around ten times faster (to obtain the same or better image quality) compared to previous scanners with a fixed source-detector design.

The 1172 features two x-ray camera options: the high-performance 10Megapixel option, and the economy 1.3Megapixel option. The former, 10Megapixel camera allows the maximum scanning versatility, with an image field width of 68 mm (in dual image camera shift mode) or 35 mm (in standard single camera image mode). A nominal resolution (pixel size) of lower than 1 µm is attainable. A scannable height of around 70 mm allows for either large samples or automatic batch scanning of a column of smaller samples.

How does desk-top micro-CT work? Briefly, the system obtains multiple x-ray “shadow” transmission images of the object from different angular views, as the object rotates on a high-precision stage. From these shadow images, cross section images of the object are reconstructed by a modified Feldkamp cone-beam algorithm, creating a complete 3-D representation of internal microstructure and density over a selected range of heights in the transmission images. The best micro-CT images are obtained from objects in which microstructure coincides with contrast in x-ray absorption of the sample’s constituent materials. Application areas include: biomedical research, material science, pharmaceutical drug development and manufacture, composites, dental research, electronic components, geology, zoology, botany, building materials, paper manufacture, and many more.