Speaker
Description
The main motivation of our work is to develop high-throughput as well as dose efficient X-ray imaging instrumentation and techniques for small animal imaging of vertebrate model organisms with high resolution and adjustable field of view (FOV) for multi-scale observations of whole organisms, organs, and cellular processes.
High-resolution 3D and 4D X-ray imaging of model organisms and their developmental processes provides valuable insights and important information for life sciences without the need for dissecting the specimen, thus also allowing for in vivo studies. However, especially in the case of synchrotron in vivo experiments, the dose impinging on the specimen is crucial and has to be minimized.
Methodical routes for dose-efficient in vivo studies enclose in-line phase contrast imaging (PCI) and the use of Bragg Magnifier (BM) optics. By using asymmetric Bragg reflection, we achieve a magnification of up to 200 in 2D. By placing the BM downstream of the sample and combining it with a photon counting pixel detector, we obtain a highly resolving (sub-µm) and very dose efficient X-ray microscope. By placing the BM upstream of the sample, we can adjust the FOV up to several cm² and preserve or even enhance the coherence properties of synchrotron beamlines.
In this contribution we show exemplary results of high-throughput imaging of whole Medaka, in vivo PCI measurements of Xenopus embryos, as well as the design and first experimental results of the BM instrumentation.
