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X-ray Computed Tomography (CT)

RichardKetcham,UniversityofTexasatAustin

WhatisXrayComputedTomography(CT)
XrayComputedTomography(CT)isanondestructivetechniqueforvisualizinginteriorfeatureswithin solidobjects,andforobtainingdigitalinformationontheir3Dgeometriesandproperties.

3Dreconstructionofskullof Herrerasaurus,withcutaway showingbraincase.Sampleis32 cmlong.Specimencourtesyof UniversidadNacionaldeSanJuan, ArgentinaandDr.OscarAlcober. ACTimageistypicallycalledaslice,asitcorrespondstowhattheobjectbeingscannedwouldlooklikeif itwereslicedopenalongaplane.Anevenbetteranalogyisaslicefromaloafofbread,becausejustasa sliceofbreadhasathickness,aCTslicecorrespondstoacertainthicknessoftheobjectbeingscanned. So,whileatypicaldigitalimageiscomposedofpixels(pictureelements),aCTsliceimageiscomposedof voxels(volumeelements).Takingtheanalogyonestepfurther,justasaloafofbreadcanbe reconstitutedbystackingallofitsslices,acompletevolumetricrepresentationofanobjectisobtained byacquiringacontiguoussetofCTslices. ThegraylevelsinaCTsliceimagecorrespondtoXrayattenuation,whichreflectstheproportionofX raysscatteredorabsorbedastheypassthrougheachvoxel.Xrayattenuationisprimarilyafunctionof Xrayenergyandthedensityandcompositionofthematerialbeingimaged.

FundamentalPrinciplesofXrayComputedTomography(CT)
TomographicimagingconsistsofdirectingXraysatanobjectfrommultipleorientationsandmeasuring the decrease in intensity along a series of linear paths. This decrease is characterized by Beer's Law, which describes intensity reduction as a function of Xray energy, path length, and material linear attenuation coefficient. A specialized algorithm is then used to reconstruct the distribution of Xray attenuationinthevolumebeingimaged. ThesimplestformofBeer'sLawforamonochromaticXraybeamthroughahomogeneousmaterialis: where I0 and I are the initial and final Xray intensity, is the material's linear attenuation coefficient (units 1/length) and x is the length of the Xray path. If there are multiple materials, the equation becomes:

whereeachincrementireflectsasinglematerialwithattenuationcoefficientiwithlinearextentxi.Ina wellcalibratedsystemusingamonochromaticXraysource(i.e.synchrotronorgammarayemitter)this equation can be solved directly. If a polychromatic Xray source is used, to take into account the fact that the attenuation coefficient is a strong function of Xray energy, the complete solution would requiresolvingtheequationovertherangeoftheXrayenergy(E)spectrumutilized:

However,suchacalculationisusuallyproblematic,asmostreconstructionstrategiessolveforasingle value at each spatial position. In such cases, is taken as an effective linear attenuation coefficient, ratherthananabsolute.Thiscomplicatesabsolutecalibration,aseffectiveattenuationisafunctionof boththeXrayspectrumandthepropertiesofthescanobject.Italsoleadstobeamhardeningartifacts: changesinimagegraylevelscausedbypreferentialattenuationoflowenergyXrays.

 ThedominantphysicalprocessesresponsibleforXrayattenuationformostlaboratoryXraysourcesare photoelectric absorption and Compton scattering. Photoelectric absorption occurs when the total energy of an incoming Xray photon is transferred to an inner electron, causing the electron to be ejected. In Compton scattering, the incoming photon interacts with an outer electron, ejecting the electron and losing only a part of its own energy, after which it is deflected in a different direction. Ingeneralforgeologicalmaterials,thephotoelectriceffectisthedominantattenuationmechanismat lowXrayenergies,uptoapproximately100150keV,afterwhichComptonscatterpredominates.The practicalimportanceofthistransitionisthatthephotoelectriceffectisproportionaltoatomicnumber Z45,whereasComptonscatteringisproportionalonlytoZ,or,tofirstorder,massdensity.Asaresult, lowenergyXraysaremoresensitivetodifferencesincompositionthanhighenergyones,butarealso attenuated much more quickly, limiting the thickness of highdensity material that can be penetrated andimagedwiththem.

Thefigureontherightshowslinearattenuationcoefficientsasafunctionofenergyforfourminerals: quartz,orthoclase,calcite,andalmandinegarnet.Quartzandorthoclaseareverysimilarinmassdensity (2.65g/cm3vs.2.59g/cm3),butatlowenergytheirattenuationcoefficientsaredifferentbecauseofthe presenceofrelativelyhighZpotassiuminthefeldspar.WithrisingXrayenergy,theirattenuation coefficientsconverge,andatapproximately125keVtheycross;above~125keVquartzisslightlymore attenuating,owingtoitshigherdensity.Thus,thesetwomineralscanbedifferentiatedinCTimageryif themeanXrayenergyusedislowenough,butathigherenergiestheyarenearlyindistinguishable. Calcite,thoughonlyslightlymoredense(2.71g/cm3)thanquartzandorthoclase,issubstantiallymore attenuatingatlowenergy,owingtothepresenceofcalcium.Herethedivergencewithquartzpersiststo slightlyhigherenergies,indicatingthatitshouldbepossibletodistinguishthetwoeveninhigherenergy scans.Highdensity,highZphasessuchasalmandinearedistinguishableatallenergiesfromtheother rockformingmineralsexaminedhere.

ThereareanumberofmethodsbywhichtheXrayattenuationdatacanbeconvertedintoanimage, some proprietary. The most frequent approach is called "filtered backprojection," in which the linear data acquired at each angular orientation are convolved with a specially designed filter and then backprojectedacrossapixelfieldatthesameangle.

Thisprincipleisillustratedintheimageatrightandananimationthatcanbeviewedbyclickingonthe link below. A hand sample of garnetbiotitekyanite schist (top left) is rotated, and its midsection is imagedwithaplanarfanbeam(blue).TheattenuationofXraysbythesampleasitrotatesisshownin the upper right; the more attenuation there is along a beam path leading from the point source (bottom) to the linear detector (top), the fewer Xrays reach the detector. The data collected at each angle are compiled in the bottom right. In this image the horizontal axis corresponds to detector channel,andtheverticalaxiscorrespondstorotationangle(ortime),andbrightnesscorrespondstothe extentofXrayattenuation.Theresultingimageiscalledasinogram,asanypointintheoriginalobject correspondstoasinecurve.Afterdataacquisitioniscomplete,reconstructionbegins.Eachrowofthe sinogramisfirstconvolvedwithafilter,andprojectedacrossthepixelmatrix(bottomright)alongthe angle at which it was acquired. Once all angles have been processed, the image is complete. AnimationofCTreconstruction(9.1MBMar3007)

XrayComputedTomography(CT)InstrumentationHowDoesItWork?
TheelementsofXraytomographyareanXraysource,aseriesofdetectorsthatmeasureXray intensityattenuationalongmultiplebeampaths,andarotationalgeometrywithrespecttotheobject beingimaged.DifferentconfigurationsofthesecomponentscanbeusedtocreateCTscanners optimizedforimagingobjectsofvarioussizesandcompositions. ThegreatmajorityofCTsystemsuseXraytubes,althoughtomographycanalsobedoneusinga

synchrotronorgammarayemitterasamonochromaticXraysource.Importanttubecharacteristicsare thetargetmaterialandpeakXrayenergy,whichdeterminetheXrayspectrumthatisgenerated; current,whichdeterminesXrayintensity;andthefocalspotsize,whichimpactsspatialresolution. MostCTXraydetectorsutilizescintillators.Importantparametersarescintillatormaterial,sizeand geometry,andthemeansbywhichscintillationeventsaredetectedandcounted.Ingeneral,smaller detectorsprovidebetterimageresolution,butreducedcountratesbecauseoftheirreducedarea comparedtolargerones.Tocompensate,longeracquisitiontimesareusedtoreducenoiselevels. Commonscintillationmaterialsarecesiumiodide,gadoliniumoxysulfide,andsodiummetatungstate.

The diagram at right illustrates some of the most common configurations for CT scanners. In planar beam scanning, Xrays are collimated and measured using a linear detector array. Typically, slice thickness is determined by the aperture of the linear array. Collimation is necessary to reduce the influence of Xray scatter, which results in spurious additional Xrays reaching the detector from locations not along the sourcedetector path. Linear arrays can generally be configured to be more efficientthanplanarones,buthavethedrawbackthattheyonlyacquiredataforonesliceimageata time. In conebeam scanning, the linear array is replaced by a planar detector, and the beam is no longer collimated. Data for an entire object, or a considerable thickness of it, can be acquired in a single rotation.Thedataarereconstructedintoimagesusingaconebeamalgorithm.Ingeneral,conebeam dataaresubjecttosomeblurringanddistortionthefurtheronegoesfromthecentralplanethatwould correspondtosinglesliceacquisition.Theyarealsomoresubjecttoartifactsstemmingfromscattering ifhighenergyXraysareutilized.However,theadvantageofobtainingdataforhundredsorthousands of slices at a time is considerable, as more acquisition time can be spent at each turntable position, decreasing image noise. ParallelbeamscanningisdoneusingaspeciallyconfiguredsynchrotronbeamlineastheXraysource.In thiscase,volumetricdataareacquiredandthereisnodistortion.However,theobjectsizeislimitedby thewidthoftheXraybeam;dependingonbeamlineconfiguration,objectsupto6cmindiametermay beimaged.Synchrotronradiationgenerallyhasveryhighintensity,allowingdatatobeacquiredquickly, buttheXraysaregenerallylowenergy(<35keV),whichcanprecludeimagingsampleswithextensive highZ materials. Othervariantsaremultiplesliceacquisition,inwhichaplanardetectorisusedbutdataareprocessed with a fanbeam reconstruction algorithm, and spiral scanning, in which sample elevation is changed duringdataacquisition,potentiallyreducingconebeamartifacts.

Applications
CT data have been applied to virtually every geological discipline, and new applications are being continuallydiscovered.Successfulapplicationstodateinclude:

 3D rendering of meteorite PAT9150150, showing differentiating troilite/silicate particles (yellow and purple) and vapor phase bubbles. The texture is indicative of melting followed by sudden quenching within a substantial gravitational field. Specimen is ~15 cm wide. Specimen courtesy of Gretchen Benedix,LondonNaturalHistoryMuseum.Details

Measuring3Dsizeandspatialdistributionofcrystals,clasts,vesicles,etc. Nondestructivevolumetricstudyofrarespecimens(fossils,meteorites,etc.) 3Dmeasurementoffluidflowfields,includingporosity,microporosity,andfractureextentand roughness 3Dfabricdetermination(foliations,shapepreferredorientations,networkproperties) InspectionandmeasurementofmorphologyinfossilsandRecentbiologicalspecimens Detectionandexaminationofhighdensityeconomictracephases Reconnaissanceimagingofsamplesforoptimalgeochemicalexploitation(forexample,locating crystalcentralsections,spiralaxes,solidandfluidinclusions).

StrengthsandLimitationsofXrayComputedTomography(CT)?
Strengths

Entirelynondestructive3Dimaging Littleornosamplepreparationrequired Reconstructionisgenerallyattenuationconservative,allowingsubvoxelleveldetailstobe extracted.

Limitations

Resolutionlimitedtoabout10002000xtheobjectcrosssectiondiameter;highresolution requiressmallobjects Finiteresolutioncausessomeblurringofmaterialboundaries CalibrationofgraylevelstoattenuationcoefficientscomplicatedbypolychromaticXrays Large(dmscale)geologicalspecimenscannotbepenetratedbylowenergyXrays,reducing resolvingcapability Notallfeatureshavesufficientlylargeattenuationcontrastsforusefulimaging(carbonate fossilsincarbonatematrix;quartzvs.plagioclase) Imageartifacts(beamhardening)cancomplicatedataacquisitionandinterpretation Largedatavolumes(gigabytes+)canrequireconsiderablecomputerresourcesforvisualization andanalysis

 User'sGuideSampleCollectionandPreparation
TheonlypreparationnecessaryforCTscanningistoensurethattheobjectfitsinsidethefieldofview andthatitdoesnotmoveduringthescan.BecausethefullscanfieldforCTisacylinder(i.e.,astackof circularfieldsofview),themostefficientgeometrytoscanisalsoacylinder.Thus,whenpossible,itis oftenadvantageoustohavetheobjecttakeonacylindricalgeometry,eitherbyusingacoringdrillto obtain a cylindrical sample or by packing the object in a cylindrical container with either Xray transparentfillerorwithmaterialofsimilarattenuationcharacteristics.

DataCollection,ResultsandPresentation
CTdatagenerallytaketheformofasequenceofimagefiles,whichcanbevisualizedandanalyzedusing awidevarietyof2Dand3Dbasedimageprocessingtools.ThegrayleveldatavaluesinCTimagesare genericallycalledCTnumbers.However,CTnumberstypicallyvaryfromscannertoscanner,andeven scan to scan. Thetwostandardmodesof3Dvisualizationarevolumerenderingandisosurfacing.Volumerendering consists of mapping each CT value to a color and an opacity. Thus, some phases can be rendered transparent, allowing internal features to be revealed. Isosurfacing involves defining 3D contour surfaces that delineate boundaries between CT numbers, much as contour lines separate elevations values on a topo map. BecauseCTdatasetstypicallycomprisehundredsofimagesandthousandsofmegabytes,theyarenot amenable to traditional publishing. However, CT data and visualizations are increasingly being served overtheworldwideweb.AnexampleistheLibraryofDigitalMorphology(moreinfo)website.

Literature
The following literature can be used to further explore X-ray Computed Tomography (CT)

ASTM,1992,StandardGuideforComputedTomography(CT)Imaging,ASTMDesignationE1441 92a.In:1992AnnualBookofASTMStandards,Section3MetalsTestMethodsandAnalytical Procedures.ASTM,Philadelphia,pp.690713. Ketcham,R.A.andCarlson,W.D.,2001,Acquisition,optimizationandinterpretationofXray computedtomographicimagery:Applicationstothegeosciences.ComputersandGeosciences, 27,381400.

RelatedLinks
For more information about X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) follow the links below.
TheUniversityofTexasCTLabwebsiteprovidesmoreinformationonprinciplesandmanyexample applications.

TeachingActivitiesandResources
Teaching activities, labs, and resources pertaining to X-ray Computed Tomography (CT).

X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD)

X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF)

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