Analysis Software – CT Fusion
The optional CT Fusion module provides a means to prepare optical fluorescence data obtained on the Optix MX3 system for co-registration with microCT images. The co-registration technique employed matches the X-ray fiducial markers that appear on microCT images with software markers that are inserted at pre-determined positions into the optical image volume slices.
As shown below in GE’s MicroView application, fused images can provide views of optical fluorescence volume data within the microCT image of the specimen skeleton. Other views, including isosurfaces and volume planes, are also available in most software packages.
The CT fusion co-registration technique relies on three elements, which are described below.
- Optical and CT carriers and an interchangeable scanning bed that ensures positioning remains unchanged when the specimen is transferred from one device to the other. The interchangeable scanning bed also includes a series of steel inclusions that provide accurate and reliable reference markers on the CT images.
- A regular optical-imaging scan that provides the information for post-processing in OptiView. During post-processing, software-generated markers are added to CT fusion optical data sets at pre-determined positions that correspond to the scanned X-ray fiducial markers.
- A co-registration method that references relative image positioning between the two imaging systems and software to view fused images of optical and CT data sets.