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X-ray images in full colour

Nature Reviews Physics volume 1, pages 524–526 (2019)Cite this article

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Detector technologies developed at CERN can produce stunning colour X-ray computed tomography images, but bringing them to hospitals is challenging.

If you injure your wrist, your doctor will order an X-ray to check for fractures. If the image doesn’t show any, then you probably have a sprain that will heal over time and you will be sent home with an ice pack. In most cases, this approach works. However, some wrist injuries, such as fractures to the scaphoid bone or soft-tissue damage, can’t be diagnosed with a 2D X-ray image. If your wrist continues to hurt, your doctor may suspect this type of injury, in which case they may order an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan to confirm the diagnosis. MRI distinguishes materials by the relaxation time of magnetic resonance of nuclear spins. It produces high-quality images, but scanners cost from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars for hospitals to purchase, and must be run by highly trained specialist technicians. Depending on what country you’re in when you injure your wrist, you may well face either a long waiting list or a large out-of-pocket expense.

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Fig. 1: Colour X-ray computed tomography (CT) image of a human wrist and the Timepix3 chip.

References

  1. Fredette, N. R., Kavuri, A. & Das, M. Multi-step material decomposition for spectral computed tomography. Phys. Med. Biol. 64, 145001 (2019).

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  1. Nature Reviews Physics https://www.nature.com/natrevphys/

    Zoe Budrikis

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  1. Zoe Budrikis
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Correspondence to Zoe Budrikis.

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Budrikis, Z. X-ray images in full colour. Nat Rev Phys 1, 524–526 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-019-0102-y

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