Sky’s the limit for new scanner, says RSSL

The microscopy department at RSSL is launching what it’s calling ‘a revolutionary new service in non-destructive 3-D imaging of samples’, following installation of a SkyScan X-ray tomography system.

The analytical instrument can scan a sample, much like a CT scanner used in medical imaging, to build up a three dimensional image and so give much more detailed information about the inside of a sample than microscopy techniques, says RSSL

“Thus far, the technology has barely, if ever, been used in food industry applications but the possibilities are amazing,” says Tom Ray, head of microscopy at RSSL "We will be able to take almost any food, supplement, pharmaceutical or their packaging, and take a good look inside. With microscopy we are limited to looking at sections, and inferring from a few images what is going on with the whole sample. With this technique we can take many thousands of images and immediately build up a picture of the whole sample."

Already, RSSL has used the instrument to examine food supplement capsules to determine exactly where the coating was thickest and thinnest, and hence describe how well the manufacturing process was working. Other applications will include investigations of foreign bodies, and studies to understand how different ingredients are mixing together.

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