ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the aspects of micro-computed tomography (CT): system components, methods, and applications of micro-CT for small animal studies. There are two possible system design geometries in micro-CT imaging: rotating gantry and rotating specimen. Most micro-CT systems to date employ digital flat-surface two-dimensional detectors leading to a cone beam scanning geometry. Many commercial systems for micro-CT imaging provide zoom-in capability and variable geometry. In such cases, nearly continuous calibration of the system's geometry is necessary to guarantee the stability of the image spatial resolution. All CT image reconstruction algorithms solve an inverse problem that maps cone beam projection data to a three-dimensional tomographic representation of the specimen. Micro-CT is well-suited for bone imaging because of the natural contrast between bone and soft tissues, which is due to the higher effective atomic weight of the bone.
