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2 or 3D images from the XRT/CT can be used to answer a large variety of research questions

Published on
March 28, 2017

This was the outcome of the SRF seminar on 23 March where the X-ray computer tomography (XRT) took central stage. Over 30 interested researchers learned more about the possibilities of XRT, which were specified to their research objects in the fields of food, animal and human physiology or plant, soil and roots.

After a welcome by Petra Caessens of Shared Research Facilities, a short film introduced the facilities in more detail and emphasized what facility-sharing can bring researchers within as well as outside WUR.

Insights in the workings and possibilities for research of the XRT Tomography were presented by Remco Hamoen. The benefits of this non-invasive nature of the method over other scanning methods were highlighted. The examples of studied objects in the fields of food, animal and human physiology or soils, plants and roots underlined the range of possibilities of the XRT.

Besides scanning in the XRT, data from other scanners, such as, the MRI can be used also as input for the software to analyse. The output images from the XRT can be used further, e.g., 3D printing of the object to result in a tangible model of the object.

After the introduction the participants zoomed in on their own work by answering which object would be first on their list to be scanned by the XRT. These objects ranged from fungi, sponges and corals, roots and plants, hazelnuts, to teeth in archaeological digs. Erik Esveld let pass in review the possibilities and perceived technical difficulties of each object, keeping in mind what the participants wanted to know about the object. The seminar ended with an invitation to the attendees to have a first scan of their object made, as a basis to further explore the possibilities XRT can offer.