Noninvasive 3-D Assessment of Trabecular Microstructure

The investigators will test the feasibility of developing a 3D X-ray microtomography scanner for trstudies in small animals, as further described by their abstract: A 3-D Computed Tomographic scannerobservation of trabecular bone microstructure and density of laboratory animals is proposed. This ReTomography (RAT) scanner will be capable of performing in vivo scans at 25- and 50-micrometer resolu6- and 12-mm fields of view. The novel introduction of a high- resolution high efficiency detector bscintillator/fiberoptics directly coupled to a thermoelectrically cooled 14-bit CCD camera allows imcompact geometry to achieve exceptionally high imaging throughput and image quality. The Phase I prodemonstrate the feasibility of 75-micrometer resolution and the ability to obtain images in under 20dose less than 1 rad. The RAT scanner will produce image data for 3-D matrix sizes of 256, 512 and 1