First Human Scanned By Spectral X-Ray Scanner

Chalk this up to an application of high-energy physics in the medical diagnostic field. The first human has been scanned by a new type of x-ray scanner (registration required to read article at this moment).

The MARS scanner uses Medipix3 technology developed at CERN to produce multi-energy images with high spatial resolution and low noise. Medipix is a family of read-out chips originally developed for the Large Hadron Collider and modified for medical applications.

The Medipix3 detector measures the energy of each X-ray photon as it is detected. This spectral information is used to produce 3D images that show the individual constituents of the imaged tissue, providing significantly improved diagnostic information.

I'll repeat this, maybe to those not in the choir, that many of the esoteric experiments that you think have no relevance to your everyday lives, may turn out to be the ones that might save your lives, or the lives of your loved ones, down the road. So think about this when you talk to your elected political representatives when it comes to funding basic science.

Zz.