xiRAY Camera Choosen for World's First 11 MPix Micro-CT Scanner

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xiRAY Camera Choosen for World's First 11 MPix Micro-CT Scanner

X-RAY camera passes after a thorough scan from leading Mirco-CT manufacturer

In a head-to-head contest, micro-CT scanner manufacturer, SkyScan (now Bruker) choose XIMEA's xiRAY11 camera over the competing x-ray cameras for its next generation 11 Megapixel micro-CT scanner.

micro CT microtomography X-RAY cooled 11 Mpix

It is almost rocket science

Micro computed tomography, or "micro-CT," refers to a 3D x-ray imaging system similar to those used by hospital CT (or "CAT") scans, but on a much smaller scale and with massively increased resolution.

Micro-CT scanners typically are used in 3D microscopy applications where customers require non-destructive, high-resolution, 3D images of the internal structure of objects.

Unlike typical microscopy applications or electron microscopy, micro-CT scanners do not require specialized or destructive sample preparation, staining, or thin slicing -- a single scan provides an image of sample's complete internal 3D structure at high resolution without damaging the sample.

micro CT microtomography X-RAY cooled 16 Mpix

What is inside

XIMEA's xiRAY11, an 11Mpix, fiber-coupled and cooled x-ray camera, is based on Kodak's KAI-11002 sensor.

The xiRAY11 also features XIMEA’s proprietary sensor driving technology, CLEANPATH, which enables the xiRAY11 to deliver crystal-clear, 14-bit images with a 36 x 24mm field of view.

The camera has a 4 fps refresh rate at full resolution mode and 12 fps with 4x4 binning, as well as user-settable exposure times from 12μs to 500sec; all these features come in a camera module measuring only 63 x 63 x 40mm.

Second model, called xiRAY16, is respectively equipped with 16 Mpix Kodak's KAI-16000 sensor.

We came, we saw, we scanned

Together, these xiRAY11 properties give SkyScan's new micro-CT scanners an unprecedented resolution, speed, and performance, particularly compared to the competing x-ray camera approaches to intermediate resolution scans.

In head-to-head tests, the xiRAY11 proved that it can generate images either several times faster than the competition at intermediate resolutions, or generate higher resolution images during the same exposure time compared to competitive micro-CT systems with a fixed source-detector designs.

Coffee bean

Volume rendering from the results of reconstruction of a coffee bean with a digitally removed front right corner.

View video with volume rendering
of a coffee bean sample

Wood sample

Volume rendering from the results of reconstruction of a wood sample scanned at 500nm spatial resolution.

View video with volume rendering
of the wood sample

Three orthogonal, virtual slices of a coffee bean reconstructed nondestructively by a micro-CT system operating at 8-micron isotropic resolution.

Three orthogonal virtual slices show individual cells inside a wood sample nondestructively visualized by a micro-CT system with 500-nanometer isotropic resolution.

Summary introduction

XIMEA's xiRAY11 is a new, large-format, cooled x-ray digital camera that achieves high spatial resolution without compromising sample size.

Fast scan and reconstruction throughput are supported by a computer cluster option, which reconstructs scan datasets in less time than the scan duration in most cases, using several PCs in parallel. Cross section images are generated in a wide range of formats up to 8k x 8k pixels.

About SkyScan

SkyScan (now Bruker microCT) specializes in the development and manufacturing of systems for 3D non-destructive investigation of an object's internal microstructure - microtomography or micro-CT. Building on more than twenty five years experience, SkyScan was able to construct the first commercial desktop microtomograph in 1995. The standard commercial microtomography systems from SkyScan today reach a spatial resolution in the submicron range.