X-ray micro computed-tomography scanner

• Subject Area: Neurosciences
• Term: Funded in 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 503673978

Biological laboratories are routinely equipped with imaging tools such as confocal, inverse, light-sheet, and super-resolution microscopes. While all these microscopes are vital for addressing biological questions, they do not fulfill the need for high throughput whole-body imaging of small organisms, organs, patient’s tissue and biopsy samples. Since its development in 1972, x-ray computed tomography became the standard medical imaging device due to its robustness and low costs. The performance of table-top laboratory x-ray CT scanners has since then significantly improved in spatial resolution, providing 500 nm in resolution and sample throughput (tens of samples per day). Over the last years, x-ray computed tomography became the method of choice for 3-D structural imaging of organisms and tissues and at single cell resolution. Due to high penetration, the samples can be observed non-destructively - within an (artificial) physical environment, like plant roots in soil or tissues within biomaterials. Correlative approaches link specific proteins of interest observed via fluorescence microscopy with structural information provided by x-rays. Furthermore, recent approaches for hierarchical imaging show that x-ray tomography is extremely useful to locate a specific region of interest for further investigation by electron microscopy and super-resolution microscopy, increasing fidelity of the obtained results and reducing the need for sample sectioning and associated time and costs. The requested x-ray microCT scanner is a state-of-the-art instrument with the high spatial resolution (of 500 nm), throughput (automatic sampling of 16 probes), large field of view to accommodate large specimens and reconstruction algorithms among existing x-ray microCT scanners. As described in section 3, it will address the need of comparative structural analysis on one hand, and it will improve the workflow upstream of other microscope techniques such as light and electron microscopy on the other hand.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Röntgen-Mikrotomographie Gerät
• Instrumentation Group: 3230 Tomographie- und Schichtgeräte (Röntgen-)
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Leader: Professor Dr. Joachim Wittbrodt