A novel approach to achieve a state-of-the-art micro-tomography facility at the ANU.
Dr Andrew Kingston (Research School of Physics and Engineering, ANU)
COMPUTER VISION AND ROBOTICS SERIESDATE: 2011-09-22
TIME: 16:00:00 - 17:00:00
LOCATION: NICTA - 7 London Circuit
CONTACT: JavaScript must be enabled to display this email address.
ABSTRACT:
The 3D imaging and analysis group in the department of Applied Maths, RSPE, ANU, is unique in that all steps of the process, (from specimen preparation and imaging to analysis of tomograms and physical experiments for verification), are done in-house. Much of the quality of our results hinge on the quality of the tomograms generated. So in recent years our group has concentrated on developing a novel approach to deliver an imaging system with simultaneously both high-resolution and high signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR). Our computed tomography (CT) machines have been designed and built in house. They are meso-scale being capable of imaging samples from 300mm down to 2mm in diameter, however the set-up requires some reconfiguration for each experiment. The focus of our group has been to achieve high-throughput, thus we do not want to waste time physically aligning the system for each experiment. We have developed robust, sub-pixel accurate, misalignment correction software that has enabled us to adopt unconventional theoretically-exact reconstruction methods. These exact methods are sensitive to misalignments but enable imaging at very short detector distances thus more X-ray flux is captured through the detector, (i.e., higher SNR/time). In the talk I will outline the 3D image analysis and modeling capabilities of our group to give some context and then focus on the above advances in CT technology along with some of the imaging capabilities we have developed such as region-of-interest tomography, CT of dynamic specimens, and phase-contrast imaging.
BIO:
Andrew Kingston recieved his PhD in Physics from Monash University in 2005. His research involved extending the theory and developing applications for the finite Radon transform (FRT). He then spent one year in the image and video communications (IVC) group at Ecole Polytech. in l'Universite de Nantes where he worked on another form of discrete RT known as the Mojette transform. Mojette projections are a neat way to generate redundancy for data transmission or data storage. During his post-doc Kingston developed intra- and inter- projection compression schemes and a multi-resolution Mojette transform. For the last 4 years Kingston has taken a research position in the Department of Applied Maths in the Research School of Physics and Engineering (RSPE) at the Australian National University (ANU). He has become an expert in lab-based fine-focus X-ray micro-computed-tomography (micro-CT). He is one of the principle authors of the reconstruction code for his departments in-house system and is part of the key research team that created the university spin-off company Digital Core Laboratories (www.digitalcore.com.au/). He currently holds 1 provisional and 2 PCT patents.
