Medusa

The very high resolution scanner Medusa is the re-designed version of the first UGCT sub-micron CT system. Similar to this system and Nanowood, it combines a Photonic Science VHR detector with a large-area Varian flat-panel detector to allow for both low-density objects such as biological tissue, and high-density samples such as geomaterials. Both detectors are mounted on motorized linear stages for easy and fast switching and high accuracy. On this stage, additional space is available for experimental detectors and other tests. The setup also allows for a very long propagation distance of 1.4m, which can be exploited for phase-contrast experiments. The FeinFocus transmission tube allows for a resolution of approximately 0.9 µm and for X-ray targets of different material and thickness. Finally, a dual-phase grating interferometer (DP-XGI) module is integrated into the system, which makes multi-modal X-ray imaging possible, allowing to achieve a higher contrast in low-attenuating objects and to obtain information about structures well below the conventionally feasible spatial resolution.