NIF grows to facilitate enhanced accessibility and promote impact of world-class imaging capabilities

We’re proud to welcome three new team members to enhance the accessibility of NIF’s network of state-of-the-art imaging capabilities, and highlight the impact of researchers, health professionals and industry utilising imaging to unlock solutions to major challenges.

Two Senior Managers have been appointed to lead the implementation of a national coordination strategy, including enhanced accessibility, across Australia’s advanced imaging network.

The enhanced accessibility will enable increased engagement with multi-site, large scale projects which will translate to collaborative improved outcomes for major health challenges such as brain injuries, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological disorders including epilepsy and dementia.

In addition to this, a new Senior Science Communicator has been appointed in partnership with Therapeutic Innovation Australia (TIA), to highlight the nationally significant and impactful research, enabled by TIA and NIF as part of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

Senior Manager and Senior Research Scientist – National Magnetic Resonance Capability

Dr Shawna Farquharson has been appointed to the role of Senior Manager and Senior Research Scientist, National Magnetic Resonance Capability, and brings over 25 years of experience in MRI to the role, with a focus on translation of advanced MRI techniques, from research to the clinic. 

Shawna will lead the project management of our national MRI capability, coordinating and harmonising Australia’s advanced imaging network and increasing engagement with multi-site studies and projects.

Senior Manager – National Data Capability

Peter Bugeia is an eResearch professional, and has been appointed as Senior Manager, National Data Capability. He brings significant experience providing research computing, research data storage and management solutions to Australian researchers.

Peter will be responsible for the refinement of and accessibility to critical NIF data, including large scale national image repositories.

Senior Science Communicator

Erik de Wit has been appointed as NIF’s Senior Science Communicator and has a background in journalism and corporate communications, with a focus on science, medical research and tertiary education.

Erik will be responsible for sharing stories of cutting-edge science, collaboration and translation which serve to highlight the benefit and impact of NIF’s capabilities.

iSRS 2025 to be hosted in Australia

The 2025 International Symposium on Radiopharmaceutical Sciences (iSRS) will be hosted in Australia.

The National Imaging Facility supported Australia’s bid to host the 26th bi-annual global event.

The announcement was made at the 2022 event last month in Nantes, France, where it was also revealed NIF UNSW Facility Fellow Dr Giancarlo Pascali will be the upcoming Chair.

Dr Pascali said the iSRS is the most important conference in the field of basic radiochemistry developments, often debuting significant radiopharmaceutical innovations which will be introduced to clinical practice in the coming years.

“The iSRS has always been focused on the scientific grounds of our discipline and featuring examples of clinical success. It covers all the areas of radiochemistry, from targetry to imaging, preclinical imaging, radiometals, and the 18F and 11C staples,” Dr Pascali said.

The event is known for its engagement with new generations of radiochemists, with lectures mainly delivered by PhD students and early career researchers.

“In the last few years, the SRS have established the “Think Tank” team, allowing young investigators to contribute directly to the Society and the iSRS events, and even contributed to the creation of philanthropic support through the ‘Hot Atom Fund’,” he said.

“Therefore, if you are an imaging scientist interested in being among the first to witness the most promising radiopharmaceutical discoveries, or to network with the top experts and companies in the field, or simply looking to add an expert post-Doc in your lab, it is not a bad idea to join the 600+ attendees of the iSRS series!”

Dr Pascali has been a member of the event’s host institution, the Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences (SRS), for nearly two decades, since his first iSRS (at the time known as ISRC) attendance in Sydney 2003 as an Italian PhD student.

“I have been a member of the SRS since then, actively participating with scientific contributions, and more recently being part of the Scientific committee for the eSRS in 2021 (virtual) and the coming event in Hawaii in 2023,” he said.

As Chair for the 2025 event, Dr Pascali will coordinate and drive the conference planning and delivery alongside Co-Chair Prof Michael Kassiou,the International Scientific Program Committee and the Local Arrangements Committee.

For more information about the Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, visit srsweb.org.

Members of the NIF network recognised internationally as in-person conferences return

[Pictured: UNSW-NeuRA Facility Fellow, Dr Michael Green presented a study titled “Effect of Compressed SENSE on Freesurfer parcellation precision” which was a collaboration between NeuRA researchers, Philips Australia and New Zealand, and UNSW.]

In-person events have returned – and over the last few months, leading edge experts from the NIF network have attended, presented, and taken the opportunity to collaborate at conferences like ANZSNM and ISMRM.

We’re proud to acknowledge the members of the NIF network who have presented their globally significant work to the greater imaging communities.

We congratulate University of Sydney-ANSTO Node Co-Director, Prof Fernando Calamante as President of ISMRM on the success of the 2022 31st Annual Meeting hosted in London, UK in May.

We also recognise the incredible achievement of Dr Shawna Farquharson as recipient of the ISMRT 2022 Distinguished Service Award at the same event.

Back in Australia, NIF kicked off events with a Molecular imaging and Radiopharmaceuticals Capability Showcase at ANZSNM. We were honoured to invite world-class speakers from within our network, Prof Steven Meikle, A/Prof Roslyn Francis, Prof Gary Egan, Prof Kristofer Thurecht and Dr John Bennett to present during the NIF session.

We look forward to seeing more of our network at upcoming events – stay tuned for the NIF Scientific Symposium next month in Sydney. Save the date for Friday 12 August.

Here are some more highlights from the NIF network attending events so far this year:

Markus Barth

QLD Node Director

ISMRM

 

Why did you attend? Many reasons: present group results; moderator of sessions; member of study groups and initiatives

 

What was the highlight of the event for you? Catching up with fellow researchers

 

What would you say to someone considering attending next meeting? Best check the hybrid setup, i.e. what is available in person and what is available online

Michael Green

NeuRA Facility Fellow

ISMRM

Why did you attend? Primarily it was a great way to re-connect with colleagues and share ideas in an old-fashioned, non-Zoom type of way. I presented a study titled “Effect of Compressed SENSE on Freesurfer parcellation precision” which was a collaboration between NeuRA researchers, Philips Australia and New Zealand, and UNSW. The study assessed the reliability of an MRI acceleration techniques designed to speed up the time it takes to acquire images. We wanted to provide a guideline for MR researchers wanting to reduce scan time while acquiring high quality data.

 

What was the highlight of the event for you? The face-to-face aspect of a conference was a real highlight. It was a nice compliment and surprise to see Philips also present data from our study to a global audience as validation for their acceleration techniques employed on their MRI machines. I also received some interesting feedback regarding the study analysis which I may implement before publishing the manuscript.

 

What would you say to someone considering attending next meeting? Study the conference schedule well before attending then pick and choose which seminars you’d like to attend. Then talk to as many people as possible. In person!

Joseph Ioppolo

UWA Facility Fellow

ANZSNM

Why did you attend? This is a good meeting to attend to connect with the other radiochemists in Australia. Due to COVID I had not had a chance to do this in a long while. I was also very keen to see the Q-TRaCE labs at Royal Brisbane, as we have a good working relationship between them and us at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. I was able to let people know I had moved across to the NIF Node at UWA and was able to speak about our new lab and facilities being built now in Perth during my talk on the Saturday

What was the highlight of the event for you? While ANZSNM was a great chance to hear some great talks and connect with a lot of people, it was also exciting to tour the labs at Q-TRaCE and the Centre for Advanced Imaging at UQ, where we also had our national Cyclotron User Group meeting.

What would you say to someone considering attending next meeting? There are just not that many radiochemists in Australia, and the ANZSNM (along with the EPSM) is a great opportunity to see meet each other in person and see how the radiopharmaceuticals we make are being used to image and treat disease around the country.

 

Sjoerd Vos

UWA Facility Fellow

ISMRM

 

Why did you attend? I presented a project shared between my current role as NIF fellow and my previous job in London.

 

What was the highlight of the event for you? My highlight was discussing potential new collaborations within Australia and internationally.

 

What would you say to someone considering attending next meeting? I think this is also a key reason to go to these conferences – to help explore new collaborations to benefit our imaging centres and community.

Shenjun Zhong

Monash Informatics Fellow

ISMRM (Virtual)

Why did you attend? My abstract was accepted as an online power pitch presentation in the ISMRM 2022 conference. And I virtually co-chaired one of the gather.town sessions in the theme of imaging processing and analysis.

What was the highlight of the event for you? The main highlight was the talk provided by one of the famous AI researchers, Yann LeCun, and his topic was ‘Future AI research in medical imaging‘. The key take-home message is the shifting from supervised to self-supervised learning framework in general AI and medical imaging research.

Meet our new Fellows

Meet the newest members of Australia’s advanced imaging network.

Their expertise is vital in applying imaging technologies, processing and interpreting imaging data, and applying imaging to solve complex problems.

We’re proud to extend our welcome to, and introduce, the newest members of NIF’s Fellows network, joining our team of experts enabling Australian imaging science to unlock solutions to major challenges.

Mahdieh Dashtbani Moghari
USyd/ANSTO Facility Fellow
Ryan O’Hare Doig
SAHMRI Facility Fellow
Parisa Zakavi
Monash Facility Fellow
Judy Zhu
Macquarie Facility Fellow

World-first: Cancer Council supports Western Sydney Uni’s AI enhanced cancer research

[Pictured above: Dr Tim Stait-Gardner, Dr Trang Pham (UNSW/Liverpool Hospital), Professor Bill Price and Dr Abhishek Gupta]

Cancer Council NSW has awarded a grant for over $430K to Western Sydney University researchers and an expert multi-institutional team to investigate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy for people living with cancer.

The world-first study will support the MRI-Linac, a next-gen radiotherapy technology developed by the NSW-based Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, combining an MRI scanner and a radiotherapy linear accelerator (Linac) into one integrated system.

In typical radiotherapy treatment, still images of the patient and their cancerous tumour taken prior to treatment are used to help plan and guide the direction of the radiation beam, but this radiation process can also damage normal tissues that are subjected to the radiation beam during treatment.

The MRI-Linac combines the technology of a Linear Accelerator and an MRI scanner, which can display real-time images enabling the monitoring of movement in tumour locations caused by normal functions like breathing or swallowing during treatment. The MRI-Linac can pinpoint parts within the tumour that are most active and aggressive, so a higher dose of radiation can be delivered to those areas.

In this study, MRI will be used to characterise cancer heterogeneity (differences among tumours and cancer cells), which can lead to cancer recurrence.

The multi-institutional research team is led by NIF Node Director Prof Bill Price and includes NIF Facility Fellow, Dr Tim Stait-Gardner and Research Fellow, Dr Abhishek Gupta from Western Sydney University; Dr Trang Pham, A/Prof Lois Holloway and Prof Erik Meijering from UNSW, as well as Prof Daniel Moses from the Prince of Wales Hospital. The research team also includes members from the Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research, Auckland Bioengineering Institute and the University of Queensland.

The team will use ultra-high-strength MRI scanners to produce microscopic resolution images of tumour samples. These highly detailed images will allow them to characterise the biological differences between tumours.

The team will then use deep learning, a specialised form of AI, to transfer this knowledge into clinical MRI scanners to enhance the resolution of imagery in MRI-Linac.

Prof Price said the research will allow clinicians to better predict the effectiveness of treatment and enable personalised care, with half of all cancer patients requiring radiotherapy.

“Radiotherapy is an important part of treatment for many cancer patients, however, in current practice it offers little capacity for personalised care,” Prof Price said.

“We have identified an opportunity to further enhance treatment by considering biological characteristics of an individual’s tumour with the help of AI.”

Prof Price said the implementation of this new enhanced imaging technology along with the precision of the MRI-Linac has the potential to greatly improve treatment outcomes and patient survival rates.

The study, ‘Targeting cancer heterogeneity with ultra‐high field MRI and radiotherapy using deep learning’, will be a collaboration between Western Sydney University, UNSW, Liverpool Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital, Ingham Institute, University of Queensland, and Auckland Bioengineering Institute.

For more information on this study, contact NIF Node Director, Prof Bill Price.

Read Western Sydney University’s media release here.

Announcement: New appointments to NIF Governance Board

The National Imaging Facility (NIF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Prof Karen Reynolds and Dr Chien Ho to the NIF Governance Board.

The independent Governance Board provides oversight and strategic guidance for all NIF activities and investments, supporting NIF’s mission to make unparalleled imaging capabilities accessible to Australian researchers.

Prof Reynolds is the Director of the Medical Device Research Institute at Flinders University in South Australia and brings expertise in effectively engaging with government, clinicians and industry.

Dr Ho is a consultant radiologist bringing expertise across the commercial, healthcare technology and clinical domains.

NIF Governance Board Chair, Prof Margaret Harding welcomed the newest members and congratulated them on their appointment.

“Prof Reynolds and Dr Ho bring a diverse range of skills and interests which will support the work of the Board and help to shape the future strategic direction for NIF,” Prof Harding said.

Prof Reynolds and Dr Ho will replace Prof Carolyn Mountford and Dr Thomas Barlow who have completed their three-year terms of appointment.

Prof Joe Shapter will also leave the Board as the representative of the University of Queensland with his retirement as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research Infrastructure) on 30 June. He will be replaced by A/Prof Kevin Jack, who will act as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor while recruitment is undertaken.

Prof Harding warmly acknowledged the contributions of Prof Mountford, Dr Barlow and Prof Shapter.

“All three departing members have brought a diversity of views and insights to Board discussions, and I offer my thanks to Carolyn, Thomas and Joe for their contributions as foundational members of NIF’s independent Governance Board,” Prof Harding said.

“Their expertise, time and support have been invaluable to NIF, particularly throughout the development of its new strategy, the coordination of its governance restructure, and strategic direction.”

“The advice and guidance of our outgoing members has positioned NIF for success in years to come,” she said.

Read more about NIF’s independent Governance Board here.

Our new Governance Board Members

Professor Karen Reynolds

Professor Karen Reynolds is Director of the Medical Device Research Institute at Flinders University in South Australia.  As one of Australia’s leading researchers in biomedical engineering, Karen is passionate about bridging the divide between research and industry.

In 2008, she founded the Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) Ideas Incubator, a program designed to facilitate early-stage innovation and collaborations across the medtech sector. Fourteen years later, this award-winning program continues to support early-stage innovation in the medtech sector.

Karen has a number of external roles including as member of the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s Advisory Committee on Medical Devices, and until last year, a member of the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academies of Technology and Engineering and of Health and Medical Sciences, and is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia.

Dr Chien Ho

Dr Chien Ho is an experienced Board Director and Clinical Radiologist with particular interests in clinical and corporate governance, digital health and strategic planning. He has previously been a Board member of Integral Diagnostics and a Director of Lake Imaging. He is a GAICD, Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) and holds a MBBS (Hons.).

Dr Ho has held senior clinical leadership roles including Chair and member of both the Integral and Victorian Clinical Leadership Committees. He is also a member of the RANZCR Digital Health Working Group and is actively involved with Radiology Across Borders.

Upon completion of his radiology training at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, he undertook advanced training in London, primarily at University College Hospital where he completed an MRI/musculoskeletal fellowship. He works as a radiologist for Lake Imaging with subspecialty interests in musculoskeletal imaging, body MRI (including prostate) and Cardiac CT. 

Associate Professor Kevin Jack

Associate Professor Kevin Jack is the Director Research Infrastructure (RI) at The University of Queensland (UQ) and is currently Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research Infrastructure) PVC(RI). He has over 25 years of experience in operations, management and leadership of advanced analytical methods and facilities at UQ and Bristol University. He is a physical chemist and his main research interests are in the nano- and molecular-scale characterisation of materials to better understand the relationships between structure, properties, and performance.

Because Seeing Changes Everything: Placing Australian imaging at the global forefront

Today the National Imaging Facility (NIF) released Because Seeing Changes Everything, its roadmap for Australian imaging.

NIF is Australia’s advanced imaging network, providing open access to flagship imaging equipment, expertise, tools, data and analysis. NIF enables a full suite of advanced imaging capability including preclinical and clinical, human and animal imaging, and radiochemistry.

Because Seeing Changes Everything provides a plan to enable Australian researchers to unlock solutions to major health, agriculture and materials challenges.

NIF Governing Board Chair, Professor Margaret Harding said Because Seeing Changes Everything demonstrates the way NIF contributes to Australian wellbeing, and outlines NIF’s future priorities, which deliver to the Australian Government’s 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap.

“NIF’s imaging infrastructure, data and leading expertise support Australian research and innovation to help improve our standard of living and strengthen our economic standing,” Prof Harding said.

“Scientists, clinicians and professionals from a range of industries across Australia use NIF capabilities to unlock solutions to their research questions.”

NIF has identified impacts where imaging plays a key role, and will prioritise investments that address these areas:

  • Better evidence for decision-making in health
  • New diagnostics and therapies combined
  • Better health for the young and older Australians
  • Equitable regional and rural health
  • Growing use of imaging in agriculture and ecology 
  • Critical contributions to materials, engineering and culture

NIF Chief Executive Officer, Professor Wojtek Goscinski said Because Seeing Changes Everything outlines NIF’s roadmap supporting innovation and ensuring Australia’s world-class imaging capability remains at the global forefront.

“NIF will deliver to the priorities outlined in the 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap, helping Australians to apply state-of-the-art imaging to address emerging challenges,” Prof Goscinski said.

“Our expertise and infrastructure will ensure Australia is at the cutting-edge of advanced imaging, now and into the future as we continue to meet the evolving needs of modern research.”

The document highlights some of the future capabilities NIF is planning to expand, including:

  • Accelerating next-generation imaging technologies
  • Furthering critical magnetic resonance technology
  • Translating portable biomagnetic imaging
  • Pioneering full-colour x-ray scanners
  • Applying new-generation ultrasound for treatments and diagnostic techniques
  • Advancing molecular imaging to visualise whole-body processes

 

You can read Because Seeing Changes Everything here.

NIF Molecular Imaging and Radiochemistry Showcase to be presented at ANZSNM

National Imaging Facility enables access to imaging capabilities across the country and will present a Molecular Imaging and Radiochemistry Showcase at ANZSNM 2022, featuring presentations from a range of research leaders from Australia’s advanced imaging network.

See the full ANZSNM program here.

Register to attend ANZSNM 2022.

National Imaging Facility: Molecular Imaging and Radiochemistry Showcase
Saturday 14 May 2022, 3:15pm – 4:15pm
Session Chair: Prof Wojtek Goscinski, CEO National Imaging Facility

TimeSpeakerTopic
3:15 – 3:20Professor Wojtek Goscinski

Chief Executive Officer
National Imaging Facility

Introduction to NIF Molecular Imaging and
Radiochemistry Showcase

3:20 – 3:30Professor Steven Meikle

Head of the Imaging Physics Laboratory, Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney

Total Body PET
3:30 – 3:40Associate Professor Roslyn Francis

Head of Department of Nuclear Medicine and WA PET Service, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, University of Western Australia

Radiochemistry activities in Western Australia
3:40 – 3:50Professor Gary Egan

Professor and Foundation Director, Monash Biomedical Imaging

Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function

Australian Precision Medicine Enterprise
3:50 – 4:00Prof Kristofer Thurecht

Acting Deputy Director (Research Technologies) and Group Leader – Principal Research Fellow,

Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland

Affiliate Principal Research Fellow and Group Leader,

Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

Alpha therapies and activities
4:00 – 4:10Dr John Bennett

Research Infrastructure Platform Leader – Biosciences,
ANSTO

ANSTO’s new NIF Alpha Radioisotopes and
Radiopharmaceuticals Facility

World class imaging expertise empowers a sight for (dino)saur eyes

ICYMI, Horridus, the world’s most complete and finely preserved Triceratops was unveiled to the public (for the first time in 67 million years) last month at Melbourne Museum, as part of their new exhibition, Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs.

Advanced Imaging experts from Monash Biomedical Imaging (MBI) and the National Imaging Facility (NIF) worked with Melbourne Museum to create a digital record of Horridus and further examine how the dinosaur would have walked the earth back-in-the-day for the exhibition’s immersive digital experience.

Longstanding research collaborations exist between the Melbourne Museum palaeontology team and the Biomedicine Discovery Institute and School of Biological Sciences at Monash University, with MBI facilitating imaging of many important fossil specimens for collaborative scientific study, teaching and outreach.

Imaging is critical to a broad variety of research problems including environmental and ecosystems research, palaeontology and preservation. The National Imaging Facility (NIF) makes cutting edge imaging capabilities accessible to Australian researchers and companies, and NIF’s world-class network of Fellows provides expertise in processing and interpreting imaging data and applying imaging to solve complex challenges.

As the CT scanner can penetrate plastic and foam, the team were able to keep the bones in their protective stillages during scanning

Why make a digital record of Horridus?

As the most complete real dinosaur fossil in any Australasian Museum, Horridus was scanned in MBI’s large bore Siemens CT scanner before it was assembled for display, to enable further study of the Triceratops by the global scientific community.

The imaging of rare and high-value specimens such as Horridus allows the preservation of information from fragile objects, in addition to the non-destructive exploration of the interior of specimens.

Monash University PhD student Hazel Richards conducted the scans and created 3D models of the Triceratops bones for the exhibition as part of her role as research assistant on the project.

“When we combine the internal images produced by these CT scans with the external surface scan images, we can create a complete 3D model of the Triceratops bones that allows us to research a range of exciting biological and evolutionary questions,” Ms Richards said.

“The team at MBI are always enthused and accommodating when we come to them with proposals for scanning weird and often unwieldy objects like these Triceratops fossils.”

“With their support and expertise, we have been able to maximise the scientific potential of these remarkable pieces of natural history,” Ms Richards said.

Monash University PhD student Hazel Richards conducted the scans and created 3D models of the Triceratops bones for the exhibition as part of her role as research assistant on the project.

Applying imaging expertise to solve challenges

NIF Facility Fellow, and MBI’s Head of Pre-Clinical Imaging, Dr Michael de Veer worked with Ms Richards to provide training and operational guidance on the optimal use of the instrument to generate the data.

“Fossilised bone is very dense, so our scanning challenge was to manipulate the CT settings so that the X-rays would penetrate the bones, allowing visualisation of internal structures such as the dinosaur’s brain case,” Dr de Veer said.

“Different parts of the dinosaur fossil were scanned over a number of visits, and the bones were transported in special crates to reduce the possibility of damage.

“As the CT scanner can penetrate plastic and foam, we were able to keep the bones in their protective stillages during scanning, a capability that made Museums Victoria palaeontologist Tim Ziegler very happy” Dr de Veer said.

As Collection Manager Vertebrate Palaeontology, Tim Ziegler manages the preservation of Victoria’s fossil collections of backboned animals, plants, and microfossils, including dinosaurs.

“Fossils are surprisingly fragile once they are uncovered and brought out of the ground,” Mr Ziegler said.

“We take any opportunity to improve the safety of specimens under research. As part of Victoria’s State Collection, this skeleton will be kept and preserved in perpetuity, and will offer scientific potential for years to come.”

Museums Victoria palaeontologist Tim Ziegler, Monash University PhD student Hazel Richards and NIF Facility Fellow, and MBI’s Head of Pre-Clinical Imaging, Dr Michael de Veer. 

What can a CT tell us about life 67 million years ago?

Visitors to the Triceratops exhibition will see the CT data captured first-hand – both virtually –through animated projections from the scans, and physically – as life-size touchable resin casts made from the 3D printed models.

This information can be used to tell deeper stories about Triceratops, including its evolution, behaviour and how it sensed its Cretaceous world.

The data of the upper and lower jaws reveal Horridus had more than 800 teeth. These CT scans can contribute to investigations of feeding biomechanics and diet in Triceratops and other highly specialised herbivorous dinosaurs.  

Scans of the dinosaur’s well-preserved braincase provided 3D models of the internal cranial cavity, allowing the team to examine the size and shape of regions of the brain and inner ear.

These provide important data for research reconstructing what sorts of sounds Triceratops was adapted to hear, and the relative importance of vision, smell and hearing in the daily lives of these long-extinct beasts.

The data of the upper and lower jaws reveal Horridus had more than 800 teeth. These CT scans can contribute to investigations of feeding biomechanics and diet in Triceratops and other highly specialised herbivorous dinosaurs. Image copyright Museums Victoria.

Say hi to Horridus

You can visit Horridus in the flesh (er.. bones?) at Melbourne Museum’s exhibition, Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs.

View Horridus in 3D here.

For more information, contact Dr Michael de Veer, Head of Pre-Clinical Imaging and NIF Facility Fellow.

Images courtesy of Museums Victoria and Monash Biomedical Imaging.

NIF’s newest capability: Medical industry, manufacturers, and museums set to benefit from WA’s first high-power research-dedicated CT scanner

National Imaging Facility’s (NIF) University of Western Australia (UWA) node located at the Centre for Microscopy Characterisation and Analysis (CMCA) will grow its capacity with the arrival of a new computed tomography (CT) scanner to expand capabilities for industry, manufacturing and museums who require imaging of large samples.

The Nikon XT H 225 ST will increase NIF’s scope to cater for specimens that require a large field of view, including medical implants, additive manufacturing and industrial components, and environmental or historical artefacts.

Research applications of the new CT scanner will extend from medical material testing, industrial material including castings, turbine blades, plastics, packaging, dispensers, to precious palaeontology and archaeology articles.

Diana Patalwala, NIF’s Facility Fellow at UWA’s CMCA said the CT will enable engagement with the biomedical, agriculture, environmental, renewable resource, advanced manufacturing, electronics and defence industries.

“Our new CT capabilities will have increased applications in pre-clinical and clinical research involving medical prosthesis, dental implants, critical assemblies of medical devices and drug delivery systems,” she said.

“It is vital for components such as patient-specific medical implants manufactured through additive manufacturing technologies to be of outstanding quality, and an X-Ray CT can play an important role in this process from start to end.”

Other medical applications include verifying the dimensions of drug delivery systems’ inhaler chambers or dispenser mechanisms, syringes, stents, pacemakers and more.

“Industry will greatly benefit from the Nikon XT H 225 ST as it is the only CT technology of its kind to provide a 225kV (450W) rotating target X-ray source, this means we can image larger and denser samples with increased accuracy than previously possible,” Ms Patalwala said.  

“This makes it ideal for industry users involved in materials testing, inspection and quality control applications.

“This CT scanner would also be ideal for examining archaeological samples, museum specimens and fossils as well, enabling us to get the detailed inside picture without destroying these precious artefacts!” Ms Patalwala said.

With an X-ray source as powerful as 225kV/450W, it is the only high-power research-dedicated CT system in WA.

The unique and versatile scanner can examine specimens ranging in size from small rock cores, which are important for minimising the risk associated with the planned drilling operations in mining and increase the probability of meeting the target yield, to large industrial manufacturing components, such as casting moulds parts, batteries, fuel cells and electronic circuits.

The Nikon XT H 225 ST has an impressive maximum field of view (35cm x 35cm x 35cm), a sample height that can accommodate up to 65cm and a sample weight of 50kg – which will allow for greater capacity in imaging larger samples.

Its large field-of-view, makes it capable of CT scanning the internal tomography of an object non-destructively

The CT uses multiple axial scans to generate cross-sectional information or three-dimensional reconstructions. The X-ray CT has the typical mechanism for taking ‘slices’ which are then digitally reconstructed into 3D volumes.

The Nikon CT has an extremely high-powered X-ray source (450W) for penetrating geological, marine and industrial objects as well as the capability of producing lower energy X-rays (20W) for bio-medical applications.

With resolutions down to the 10um range, academia and industry will have access to 2D cross-sectional slices and 3D volume rendered models, as well as access to advanced quantitative analysis software packages capable of characterising material properties involving cracks, pores, and fibres – just to name a few.

The new Nikon XT H 225 ST CT scanner was delivered at the end of March, with installation commencing from April, and a view to opening to users in May.

This instrument has been funded by National Imaging Facility, enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, with the Government of Western Australia and supporters of the Western Australia National Imaging Facility.

For further information about the instrument, contact NIF Facility Fellow, Diana Patalwala diana.patalwala@uwa.edu.au.

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