News & Scientific Highlights
Carolina Arboleda presented a talk contribution at the Swiss Congress of Radiology (SCR2017) in Bern
Carolina Arboleda, senior PhD student at TOMCAT, presented a talk entitled “Assessment of breast lesion malignancy using phase contrast imaging” at the Swiss Congress of Radiology, which highlighted the potential of X-ray grating-based phase contrast imaging to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions utilizing the absorption to dark-field signal ratio of associated calcifications.
Lucia Romano gives an invited talk at EIPBN 2017
Lucia Romano (guest professor at ETH and guest scientist at TOMCAT) has just returned from the largest conference devoted to electron, ion and photon beam technology and nanofabrication (EIPBN) in US, where she gave an invited talk about “Fabrication of high aspect ratio metal gratings for X-ray phase contrast interferometry”.
New TOMCAT paper: The GigaFRoST camera and readout system
The PSI in-house developed GigaFRoST high-speed camera and readout system is available for fast imaging experiments at the TOMCAT beamline, opening up exciting new possibilities for the observation of fast dynamic phenomena with X-ray tomography.
Single shot grating interferometry demonstrated using direct conversion detection
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute's Swiss Light Source in Villigen, Switzerland, have developed an X-ray grating interferometry setup which does not require an analyzer grating, by directly detecting the fringes generated by the phase grating with a high resolution detector. The 25um pitch GOTTHARD microstrip detector utilizes a direct conversion sensor in which the charge generated from a single absorbed photon is collected by more than one channel. Therefore it is possible to interpolate to achieve a position resolution finer than the strip pitch.
Watching lithium move in battery materials
In order to understand limitations in current battery materials and systematically engineer better ones, it is helpful to be able to directly visualize the lithium dynamics in materials during battery charge and discharge. Researchers at ETH Zurich and Paul Scherrer Institute have demonstrated a way to do this.
Preserved Embryos Illustrate Seed Dormancy in Early Angiosperms
The discovery of exceptionally well-preserved, tiny fossil seeds dating back to the Early Cretaceous corroborates that flowering plants were small opportunistic colonizers at that time, according to a new Yale-led study.
Multiresolution X-ray tomography, getting a clear view of the interior
Researchers at PSI have developed a technique that combines tomography measurements at different resolution levels to allow quantitative interpretation for nanoscale tomography on an interior region of interest of the sample. In collaboration with researchers of the institute AMOLF in the Netherlands and ETH Zurich in Switzerland they showcase their technique by studying the porous structure within a section of an avian eggshell. The detailed measurements of the interior of the sample allowed the researchers to quantify the ordering and distribution of an intricate network of pores within the shell.
Jurassic Welsh mammals were picky eaters, study finds
New analyses of tiny fossil mammals from South Wales are shedding light on the function and diets of our earliest ancestors, a team led by researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Leicester report in the journal Nature. The team used CT scanning with synchrotron X-rays at PSI’s Swiss Light Source to reveal in unprecedented detail the internal anatomy of the mammals’ tiny jaws.
Phase contrast improves mammography
Phase contrast X-ray imaging has enabled researchers at ETH Zurich, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the Kantonsspital Baden to perform mammographic imaging that allows greater precision in the assessment of breast cancer and its precursors. The technique could improve biopsy diagnostics and follow-up.