A rainy day in October turned out the be the day when the much-awaited multiscale x-ray nanotomograph SKYSCAN 2211 finally arrived to our lab. After an elaborate logistical exercise to move the two tonne instrument from its shipping crate to its designated lab space, our nanoCT is now fully operational and we have given the scanner a good test drive with a wide range of biological and non-biological samples. The nanoCT will add to our three-dimensional x-ray imaging capabilities as the instrument compliments our SKYSCAN 1172 microCT system, bringing a whole new dimension to our 3D scans and enabling us to have an even more detailed look into the 3D structure of biological tissues and tissue-material interfaces.
Long wait put to good use
In connection to the arrival of the latest instrument to our lab, we have invited some relevant speakers to get us prepared for exploring the possibilities new x-ray tomography technologies throughout the autumn. Professor Liebert Nogueira from Rio de Janeiro State University will soon be our man in charge of our x-ray micro- and nanotomographs. He made a short introductory excursion to Oslo to meet his future colleagues and gave us a brief presentation on his previous work on synchrotron microCT imaging of various biological tissues. Professor Dag W Breiby from Norwegian University of Science and Technology also visited us during the autumn and gave us a very exciting presentation on the use of phase contrast methods in high resolution x-ray microtomography to bring out the soft matter in x-ray scans as well as introducing us to the 3D x-ray imaging expertise that is available in Trondheim.