Micro-computed tomography for small animal imaging: Technological details

摘要

The high-resolution micro-computed tomography(micro-CT)system has now become an important tool for biological research.The micro-CT system enables a non-invasive inspection to screen anatomical changes in small animals.The promising advantages include high-spatial resolution,high sensitivity to bone and lung,short scan time and cost-effectiveness.The dose received by the small animal might be a critical concern in the research.In this article,the choice of the components,fundamental physical problems,the image reconstruction algorithm and the representative applications of micro-CT are summarized.Some results from our research group are also presented to show high-resolution images obtained by the micro-CT system.