New phase contrast opportunities at DANFIX

The Christmas present for DANFIX

Thursday 22’th of December was a joyful day at DANFIX because the new phase contrast system from Exciscope arrived at DTU. The instrument is the first new instrument based on the NUFI funding to DANFIX and based on a decision made by the DANFIX board early 2021. Last fall the tender for a phase contrast system was open and Exciscope won the tender.

The installation of the instrument will be done in January by Exciscope and the following period will be dedicated for commissioning of the instrument. We expect to have the system fully incorporated into the user program late spring or during the summer of 2023.

The instrument will bring new capabilities for low Z materials such as plants, tissue samples and other biomaterials but also different polymers should benefit from the phase contrast.

In terms of resolution the instrument will align with other micro-CT systems in the center with a best resolution around 1 µm. But due to the phase contrast, much smaller density and material difference can be detected in comparison to the normal absorption contrast.

The instrument was selected to boost the capabilities at DANFIX for X-ray BioImaging and the community around has been quite active as a result the BioComFert project is financing a part of the instrument.